The Taste Of Revenge

7

"So do we really have no idea where she is?" Kingsley sighed, burying his face in his hands, "Nothing at all?" Several members of the Order of the Phoenix closest to Tonks were seated in the living room of the Weasley residence.  Mad-Eye was pacing up and down the room, but no one had the heart to tell him to stop before he wore a hole in the carpet.  Everyone else was seated around the room, looking at the floor with the same sullen expression.

"No," Remus sighed, "Greyback moves the pack on after every full moon, they'll be long gone.  We have no way of finding her."

"Perhaps they may have left another message," Albus Dumbledore suggested quietly, but Remus couldn't help but notice how much duller the familiar twinkle in his eye seemed, "It seems Fenrir takes pleasure of us knowing exactly what the current state is."

"A note." Remus murmured, his hand fiddling in his pocket as he remembered the events of the previous evening, "On my door when I came home last night." Looking down in the hope his tears would be concealed, he pulled the crumpled piece of cheap, probably stolen, parchment from his pocket.  Sitting forwards, Kingsley pulled it from his hand.  He read it quickly, before throwing it back down onto the small coffee table.

"Shit." He muttered, hiding his face in his hands once more, "That's just...".  Slowly, in stone cold silence, the message was passed between the members of the Order.  At last it was handed up to Mad-Eye, who was stood behind the sofa with both eyes fixed on the floor.  It was impossible not to notice that his hands were shaking as he took the note from Severus, who also looked surprisingly downcast.

"No," Alastor whispered, rereading the delicate writing ten times over to try and prove to himself he had read it wrong, but he hadn't, "The bastard can't have done, not Dora."

"Alastor," Remus interjected, meeting his fearful eyes from across the room, "I think we ought to be grateful its only Cooper who tried.  If Greyback decided he wanted her like that, Tonks would barely stand a chance.  He'd tear her to pieces."

"We have to find her." Bill said firmly, standing up and attempting to take the note back from the dazed auror, but he held tightly, "Before Thaddeus tries again, or before Greyback does decide he wants to..." he trailed off, the words suddenly bitter on his tongue, "Yeah, we have to get to her soon."

"Mum?" Ginny's face appeared in the doorway to the kitchen a moment later, eyebrows furrowed, "I heard you all talking, what's wrong?" It was the second day of the Christmas holidays, and swarms of children had once more descended upon the Weasley household.  The adults had done their best to keep the news of Tonks's disappearance from reaching their ears, but it would never have taken long for them to catch on.

When no one answered her, the youngest Weasley frowned again, marching fully into the room.  Even then, she was given no response to her original question.  Her glare deepening, she reached out and snatched the parchment from Mad-Eye's loose grasp.

"City Pup," she read quietly to herself, "I was right.  I couldn't control myself.  Its a good thing for your bitch that the Alpha was there to stop me before I got too worked up.  How do you control yourself around her?  Your little girl is almost too much for me, but not for long, I'll remind her what a real man feels like, if you don't come to save her soon." When Ginny looked back up, tears were swimming behind her dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry lass." Mad-eye said quietly, "We lost track of 'em.  Buggers could be anywhere."

"Tonks?" She choked out, leaning against Bill as he wrapped his arms around her, "No, not her.  You have to find her."

"We're tryin'." Hagrid shrugged, nearly squishing Molly as he sat up straighter, "But Greyback's clever, he knows."

"You have to keep looking." Ginny spluttered out, anger overtaking her previous emotions, "You're all just sitting here like its a funeral.  Tonks is somewhere out there and you're not even bothering to get up off your asses and look for her!" She had found herself shouting before she really realised what had happened.  Bill had dropped her and taken several hasty steps away, he knew from personal experience it was best not to interrupt his sister when she was angry.

"Ginny we're trying." Remus protested, not even turning to look at her when he spoke.

"No," smoothly, Severus cut across him, "Let Miss Weasley speak as she clearly has thought the situation through herself.  What do you recommend we do Ginevra?"

"Well I don't bloody know," she swore, turning her famous glare on her Potion's Master, "But surely anything can be better than sitting here waiting for her to die.  You're wizards, so start acting like it!  There must be at least a million different spells out there to find someone."

"The pack will be protected against that sort of thing.  They work with Voldemort now." Kingsley added in despairingly, "Nothing magic can help."

"Then use your eyes." She fumed, "Look at maps, go out there, sitting here won't solve a single bloody thing.  I won't wait and do nothing while my big sister is somewhere out there being tortured by a load of bloodthirsty lunatics!".  Storming from the room, Ginny left silence hanging in the air behind her.  No one dared to speak, all far too afraid of the anger on Molly's face.

"The courage of teenagers." Dumbledore finally said serenely, breaking the silence with a light hearted smile, "When the world is only answerable to them."

"She's right though." Remus sighed heavily, leaning back on the sofa, "We're doing nothing while Dora is out there suffering for it."

"What do you suggest we do then Remus?" Snape sneered, still slightly taken aback by the young teenager's outburst, "What is your daring plan to save your beloved Nymphadora?"

"Shall I put the kettle on?" Molly suggested brightly.