Chapter 9

Five minutes later found me not in St. Mungo's but in Robards' office, Ron standing at my side.

"Potter, sit down and start talking," Robards said gruffly.

"Not until you tell me what happened to Tonks," I said fiercely. "Is she alright? Where is she?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to answer some of my questions first," he replied. "When did you last see her?"

"About ten, eleven o'clock last night," I said. "She's been staying with me since the letter, but last night ... she decided she would rather stay at home."

"Oh? And just what would bring on such a sudden change of heart?" he asked.

"That's personal, sir," I replied, fists clenching in my lap.

"Nothing right now is personal, Potter," he said. "Answer the question."

"Fine. We ... we were getting closer, and I think that startled her." I fumbled for the right words. "I had no problem with it, but I think somewhere in her head she remembers a younger me. Maybe she thought she was taking advantage or something, but when she realized what we were doing, she freaked out and Flooed home before I could stop her."

"And you didn't see fit to go after her?" Robards queried.

"No," I answered. "I didn't think that would be appropriate. I thought she just needed some space, a chance to clear her head, and she would be back. She knows it's not safe out there ..." I shook my head, trying to concentrate. "I was up all night hoping she would come back, but she didn't. I thought Ron was her this morning when he Flooed in, but ..."

"Can anyone else vouch for your whereabouts last night?" he asked.

"I just told you, I was with Tonks, and then ... I wasn't. I didn't leave the house. You can check the Floo records if you want, but no, no one saw me. I was alone all night until Ron showed up," I said, gritting my teeth. How could he suspect me?

Robards sighed, stopping his pacing and turning to look at me. "Potter, I'm sorry, but I have to take you off this case."

"What? Why? I haven't done anything!" I said angrily. "Sir, you have to let me help her. She trusts me!"

"Are you sure about that, Potter?" he said.

"I ... I have no reason to doubt that she does," I replied. She couldn't possibly think ...

"Regardless, we need someone slightly less ... attached ... to take over. Weasley, you know Tonks well enough to have a rapport with her, and you've already been involved in parts of the investigation. I'm assigning you this case until further notice," he snapped. Ron bristled at my side and shot me a look of equal parts sympathy and anger.

"Fine. I'll just be on my merry way," I said bitterly. "But will you please at least tell me what happened to her? I deserve to know that much."

"You can visit her in St. Mungo's if you like, as long as you take Weasley with you. But I'm afraid details of the attack are now considered confidential," Robards said quietly. "I'm sorry, Potter, but that's the final word. You are dismissed."

I stormed out of Robards's office, barely noticing Ron hastening to keep up, and headed to my own office. Slamming the door, I lit a cig and puffed hard on it, as though finishing it more quickly would erase this morning from my memory. I slammed my fist onto the top of my desk once, then twice, groaning with frustration.

"Harry, stop! You'll hurt yourself," Ron said, racing into the office and shutting the door behind him. "Mate, I'm sorry. I don't believe for a second you had anything to do with it, but rules are rules, and I don't have a choice."

"I know, Ron," I grated. "It's not your fault. But how could he ... or Tonks! ... think that I had anything to do with this? I don't even know what happened! Please, just tell me if she's alright."

"She's okay, Harry," Ron answered. "She's in hospital. Pretty beaten up, but in one piece. No lasting injuries, no broken bones. Just a lot of bruises."

I sat down with a resounding thump, exhaling. "Thank Merlin," I breathed, taking another long drag off my cig.

"Shite, Harry, you really care for her, don't you?" Ron asked curiously.

"Yeah, mate. I think I'm starting to, anyway," I answered. My hands shook.

Ron sighed. "Look, I know I'm not supposed to give you any details of what happened, but I know you and I know you would never do this. Not to her. It's not your style." Sitting down on the edge of my desk, he continued. "But you've got to promise me, Harry. You cannot go off running around acting on anything I tell you. No one can know that I told you anything. It could cost me my job, and depending on who's behind this, it could cost Tonks her life. You understand me?"

I nodded. It wouldn't stop me from investigating, but over the years I'd learned a little something about discretion. "I understand, Ron. I won't do anything that would get you in trouble."

"Alright, here's how we understand things to have happened. Keep in mind that all we know is what Tonks was able to tell us, but she's been in and out of consciousness, and we can't take everything she's said at face value." Ron cleared his throat, wiping his hands on his robes. "At some point around five this morning, she appeared in the lobby of St. Mungo's, bleeding and barely conscious. All she was able to tell the mediwitches that got to her was that someone had broken in while she was asleep and beat her. She called out Teddy's name, then yours. And then she collapsed. The doctors were able to stabilize her just fine and determined that she'd been beaten by some foreign object. Whoever did this didn't touch her personally. They alerted Robards immediately, and he contacted me to check on Teddy and bring you in for questioning."

My jaw hurt from clenching it shut, and my fingernails had dug half-moons into my palms. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him, Ron, I swear it," I muttered.

"Harry, you have to understand. She said your name," Ron said softly. "Robards has to act as though she might have been naming her attacker. It certainly couldn't have been Teddy ... he's still in a coma. But until we know who it was, he's got to act as though it's a possibility."

"But it wasn't me, Ron, I swear," I said.

"I know, Harry. I already told you that," he said. "But it would really help me if I could ask you a few questions."

"Are you interrogating me?" I said incredulously.

"Oh, sit down, Harry," Ron said. "No, I'm not 'interrogating' you. But I don't know how to solve this case without all the facts, and right now you're the one holding most of the cards. Now do you want to help me or not?"

I sat down again with a sigh. "Of course. I'm sorry, Ron, it's just ..."

"I know, mate." He ran a hand through his red hair and looked back at me. "The way I see it, I can understand her calling out your name for a variety of reasons. I don't think she was naming her attacker, because she said Teddy's name too. And now that I know you were getting ... close, it seems to me that she was calling out for you, maybe to save her."

I winced. I should have gone after her.

He continued. "But the thing that bothers me is that she said she was asleep when she was attacked. I know you and I both went over her wards after Teddy's attack. Do you know if she did anything to them after the letter was delivered?"

I shifted in my seat. "Actually, I did."

"You did what?"

"I changed her wards," I said, looking Ron straight in the eye. "I changed them so they would only admit a handful of people without setting off the world's greatest Howler."

Ron looked at me, eyes narrowed. "And who were those people?"

"Tonks, Teddy, me, you, and Auror White," I said, ticking the names off on my fingers.

"But ... Harry, none of those people could possibly have been there last night, besides Tonks herself," Ron said perplexedly. I sighed inwardly. Seemed like Ron really did believe me, then.

"Well, certainly I wasn't, and neither was Teddy, and I would be willing to bet that it wasn't you," I said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ron snarked.

"You know what I mean," I said, cuffing his leg. "That only leaves Auror White, but he couldn't possibly have anything to do with this. We picked him precisely because he and Tonks have always gotten on with one another, and besides, the man has a wife and six kids running around at home. It would be easy as pie to double-check his whereabouts last night."

"Well, I guess that's the first thing I ought to do, then," Ron said heavily. "Want to come to St. Mungo's and visit Tonks first, though?"

I nodded gratefully. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks."