Harry stared down at the pamphlet handed to him by the Auror, before glancing up at her, "Skydiving Tonks?"
The woman merely grinned in reply, "Sure! But not just skydiving, a whole week of exciting, heart stopping, adrenaline pumping fun! Just think about it Harry, we could rent a Muggle car and go racing around a track, jump off a bridge, go rock climbing, white water rafting!"
Musing it over for a moment, perhaps just to make the Witch sweat a bit, the teen nodded in acceptance, "Sure, sounds like fun. So, what's first."
Her smile broadened, "Have you ever gone kayaking over a waterfall before?"
...
Amidst the awards, public speeches, investigations, and fears surrounding the still-at-large Death Eaters the news concerning the death of Xenophilius Lovegood, due to an accident while in the mountains of Norway, went almost completely unnoticed. What was noticed, however, was the sudden influx of cash to the Quibbler, now under the ownership of Luna Lovegood, from several anonymous donors. Within weeks it had changed from ranting and raving about various 'imaginary' creatures to being a more honest, and gossip free, source of news for the Wizarding community.
The articles concerning Nargles and other creatures were now placed towards the end of the papers, intended for a younger audience or those who needed a cheering up with everything else happening in the world.
Rather than being, rather obviously, politically aligned the Quibbler went for neutrality, mentioning all sides of the political spectrum, and even containing a few notable happenings from the Muggle world as well.
By the time the summer was ending it would be the second most read newspaper in Magical England, with only The Prophet being slightly ahead in sales. There had been initially some concerns about its continuation when the young girl went back to Hogwarts, but the fears were dismissed when she named Remus Lupin 'Editor-in-Chief'.
...
"I gotta admit lover boy, this has been one hell of a week." The Auror exclaimed between bites of her dinner. They had gone to an amusement park earlier in the day and her adrenaline was beginning to subside enough for rational thought and normal conversation. The only problem with this being that it also made her more aware of the time and date.
It was the last evening of their vacation, and soon she would not only have to return to work, but also go back to not seeing Harry for weeks, possibly months, at a time.
Seeing her expression fall a tad the boy smiled and nudged her leg under the table with his foot, earning a snort and a smile as she engaged in a childish game of 'footsies' with him at the restaurant.
"It's too bad we don't have more time, we could have gone on at least one more adventure." She muttered wistfully.
He glanced to the side for a moment, before returning his attention to his date, "Who said we can't?"
Tonks' lips curled up into a grin, "Ooooo, got a plan in mind hm?"
"You might say something like that, finish up your dinner though, we have a few minutes."
The woman stared back for a few seconds, before giving up trying to guess what was going on and simply resigning herself to a surprise. Ten minutes later they paid, and he gestured for her to follow him out into the street.
By that point the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, elongating the shadows and sending beautiful streaks of color through the sky. The pair continued traveling the, slowly vacating, streets as the woman stared around in wonder, having so little time to simply enjoy the scenery and beauty of the World. As they came to an alleyway the boy held out an arm, stopping her as he peered around the corner.
It was then that she realized what was happening, and crept behind him, "So…" she whispered, "who are we following and why?"
"We are following one of the men from the restaurant… and because the chase is often as much fun as what comes after."
She blinked in confusion, pushing aside the unease forming in her gut, "And uhmmm… what comes after?"
He turned to look back into her eyes, a dark grin forming on his face that she had never seen before. "Why the kill of course."
Barely holding in a gasp Tonks staggered backwards a few steps, "K-k-kill? You are going to kill someone!?"
"Of course not my dear… we are going to kill him. You wanted a thrill, correct? Think of this as the ultimate one."
Fighting back the urge to heave up the contents of her dinner the woman could not fight the paling of her skin, and the teen let out a sigh, "Listen Tonks, thus far you are the only one who follows me that can still claim to have never seen this side of what I do. I kill people. I have before, and I will again. This is part of my plan Tonks, the revolution I am planning is not without bloodshed."
"B-b-but…"
"If you do not wish to be a part of this I understand, but aren't you the least bit curious as to why ?"
"Wh-why? Why what?"
"Why him " the boy emphasized as he glanced around the corner at their prey once more. "You spend so much time tracking down killers, dealing with murderers and monsters… aren't you the least bit interested as to how we choose our victims?"
She wanted to scream 'NO!', to beg him not to take a life needlessly, to try and change him into something else… but there was also something deep in her mind that was curious. A darker portion that she had kept locked away for years. A part of her conscious that craved sin, crime, and violence. It was one of the reasons she had chosen to become an Auror after all. She could have picked a dozen other careers to help people with, such as a Mediwitch like her mother. But no, she had picked the career that mixed the violent and darker side of society with helping others, thus feeding both of her personalities.
"I… I guess…"
The boy's grin was now a mixture of excitement and monstrous ambition. It both unnerved and thrilled her to a point she wasn't happy to admit.
He gave a slight gesture for her to come closer and spy with him. Upon doing so she found herself looking at a rather suspicious situation in and of itself. The man was meeting with another in a dark corner of the alley, both with hoods tossed over their heads to hide their features despite it being rather warm.
"He is a trafficker."
Nodding, the woman gave a slight twirl of the Wand in her pocket, enhancing her hearing to pick up the conversation taking place. A trick she had learned as an Auror.
Never did she imagine using it in preparation for murder.
She could just pick up a few key words before the pair broke off in separate directions, but what she could gather there was a rather large shipment in preparation to be sold, but it had to be moved in the next day at most. The authorities were, apparently, becoming suspicious.
Idly, she considered asking her lover what it was the man was trying to sell, but he answered before she could do so. "People."
Her head snapped towards him, eyes widening in horror.
"He is preparing to sell people, children to be exact." The teen spat in disgust, "When we were at the restaurant, I picked up the generics in a sweeping use of Legilimency that I occasionally perform when I have suspicions towards someone. He has fifteen 'products' in a storehouse nearby but needs to sell them off in thirty-six hours to avoid the police."
"But I thought he said…"
....
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