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After they made sure that the Trio wasn’t on their respective death beds, Ginny turned her attention to a more pressing matter.

She waited until the most recent Order meeting before pouncing.

“Tonks!” she smiled sweetly as she grabbed the older witch’s arm. “I need some advice and it seems like you’re the best authority to give it.”

“But what about Hermione?” she desperately looked for her, spotting the brunette with Tony, Harry and Ron. She seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with Tony about something or other and Harry and Ron seemed to be in a completely different conversation.

“No, I think you would be the best person to go to,” the youngest redhead cheerfully dragged her up to the room she and Hermione shared. Pushing the Metamorphmagus down on her bed, she put her hands on her hips. “How long have you been in love with Professor Lupin?”

Tonks flinched, hair going white. “I thought I was hiding it,” she muttered lowly.

“Yeah, but since Hermione’s started hanging around with the boys, you are probably the only one I’ve been spending a lot of time with. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve noticed what a majority of people here haven’t.”

Tonks knew it was bound to come out sooner or later, but really was sure that no one knew about it. “And you’re the only one who knows about it?”

“As far as I can tell. Now, answer the question.”

“Maybe since around this time last year,” Tonks admitted. “Oh, but, I’m pretty sure nothing’s going to come of it. I’ll get over Remus sooner or later.”

Ginny just sighed and shook her head. Tonks obviously needed her help on this matter, if she thought she was getting over Lupin when the mere thought of him had her blushing. “But what if he likes you back?”

“I’m sure he doesn’t. It’s fine, Ginny, honest.”

“How do you know he doesn’t? Tonks,” she knelt in front of her, catching one of her flailing hands. “You have to tell him how you feel. If you really want to move on, you’d best say something now or it’ll keep after you for ages. But if he tells you that he likes you back, then you may as well take the chance, right?”

“Yeah, but… Ginny, it may be a lot easier for you because you’re a Gryffindor. But remember, I’m a Hufflepuff. I’m not really very courageous. I can’t.”

“I’ll help you okay? And don’t worry about it. I’m sure he likes you back.”

Tonks looked down at her. “I don’t know, Ginny… I -”

The door suddenly opened and Tony poked his head in. “Hey, Ginny, have you seen…” he blinked as he took in the scene. “Am I interrupting something?”

Ginny and Tonks blinked at him.

Out in the hall, Ron put his hands on his hips. “Well? Has she seen Tonks or not?”

“I think you’re in the process of having Tonks in the family,” Tony turned wide eyes on him as twin squawks emanated from Ginny’s room.

“No!” Tonks immediately stood. “It’s not what it looks like!”

“We swear!” Ginny stood just as fast, waving her hands around. “It’s a thing! But not the thing you’re probably thinking it is. But -”

“I didn’t think Ginny and Tonks were that close,” Tony mused, retracting his head and closing the door.

“It’s not that, I swear!” the pair scrambled for the door.

“Tony! Get back here!”

***

Chapter Text

How did he get himself into these situations?

“Kid, it’s not moving,” he deadpanned, watching Ron pound on the door.

“Well, I know that! But - I mean… They could be in here!” he whirled around with something resembling hysteria. “Aren’t you, I dunno, worried?”

Tony scratched the back of his head. “Of what?”

“Them!”

“And ‘them’ would be…”

“Those things! You know, with legs!”

“Oh, you mean spiders?”

“Yes, I mean spiders! Tony! Can’t you spell the door open?”

“Nope. Not for at least,” he glanced at his watch. “Fifteen minutes or so.”

“Why not?”

“Apparently, the door’s on a timer,” Tony told him. “I tried to unlock the door before you started hyperventilating.”

“I am not!”

“Ron, you need to relax. There are no spiders in here with us, it’s just you and me.”

“How do you know that? They’re right sneaky, they are. Lurking in the corners, waiting to eat you…”

Tony sighed and lit the end of his wand. “See?” he swung it around. “Nothing. No sneaky critters or anything hiding in the shadows. Now, calm down.”

Ron made him light all the corners and little nooks and crannies. When he deemed it safe, Ron slid down the wall and sighed in relief.

“It’s all George and Fred’s fault,” Ron muttered, hugging his knees to his chest.

“It can’t be their fault entirely,” Tony pointed out. “Just two hours ago, they were locked in the closet, too.”

“What? No, I mean my lifelong fear of spiders. Harry can tell you. I can’t stand them and it’s all the twins’ fault when I was little.”

Tony studied the younger wizard in front of him and sighed, coming to sit down next to him. “You know, Palmer’s claustrophobic. He can’t stand closed in spaces.”

“Good thing he’s not here, then,” Ron smiled slightly, not the least bit sure who Palmer was except for what Tony had told him, Harry and Hermione.

“Yeah. I found out by accident, if you can believe it. See, we were at a crime scene and it was in the middle of a storm,” Tony grinned as he noticed Ron listening. The distraction working, he continued, “My boss, McGee and Ducky had all gone down the hall and me, Palmer and Ziva were coming from the library. Well, me and Palmer went one way and she went the other and somehow or other, we ended up in a small bathroom. The door ran on electricity, if you can believe it, so we were in trouble when the power went out and the back-up generators didn’t come on.

“I couldn’t call anyone and I’m pretty sure that they couldn’t call me and Palmer was standing in the middle of the room. I didn’t notice anything until a few minutes later, when he started breathing strangely. When I finally realized what was going on, the poor guy was in the middle of a panic attack. I tried a lot of things to get him to calm down, but nothing seemed to be working. I finally ended up having him recite to me all the plants involved in five of the year’s most highly sought after potions.”

“He’s really into plants, isn’t he?” Ron seemed to be as relaxed as he’d ever get in a closed space with someone he’d just recently found himself married to.

“Yeah, he is. He’s a really good guy, too. Saved my life a few times.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes.

“So, how do you really feel? I mean, about what we discovered recently?”

Ron lifted a shoulder. “Well, I mean, never really thought about getting married.”

“Yeah, but that’s one person. You have a wife and two husbands, correct?”

Ron had to chuckle. “Technically. I mean, if I have to marry someone, it should be one of my best mates, right?”

“And what about me?” Tony adopted a hurt look.

“Well, you’re Harry’s mate, right?”

“I’d like to think I’m starting to become yours and Hermione’s friend, too,” Tony shrugged. “But, you know, I’ve never been really good around children.”

“I wonder why. You seem to be handling us alright.”

“Yeah, but it could be because you all are magical and British. When I was in school, for example, a lot of the First Years would constantly be hanging around me and my friends. Pin always joked that I missed my calling as a mother duck. Muggle kids, I don’t know. Maybe they pick up on the fact that I’m not like them. Kids are very open like that. They seem to see things that we don’t.”

“Yeah.” Soon enough, the door finally swung open and Ron breathed a sigh of relief as they both left the cupboard. “It’s almost lunch.”

“I think I’ll join you,” Tony nudged him with his shoulder. “Just in case one of those spiders decides to come after you.”

“Good idea.”

***

Chapter Text

No, really.

How did he get himself into these situations?

It wasn’t enough that he’d been locked in yet another closet. Oh, no. Now, he was locked in yet another closet, with Sirius Black and suffering a pounding headache.

“This looks familiar,” Tony quipped, having been sat against the wall.

“I think you hit your head a bit hard,” Sirius told him. He was no Healer, but he was sure that loss of memory was a bad thing. Especially when the person with said loss of memory had been in this same closet with Ron not three hours before.

“I didn’t -”

“I know,” Sirius patted his shoulder. “You’re confused. But that door slammed shut so fast, I’m surprised your head is all that impacted.”

“I’ve been concussed before,” he huffed, crossing his arms. “I know what one feels like.”

“I have been, too,” Sirius told him. “The first time in my Third Year.”

“Oh? And what, may I ask, happened?” Tony turned glossy eyes to him for an answer.

“Well, it’s a long story. What I can tell you is that jumping the steps before you’ve looked at them might be a bad idea.”

“I can see that.”

The minutes passed and suddenly Tony became aware of someone knocking at the door.

“Is anyone in there?”

“Harry?” Sirius called back. “Is there some way to get out of here? Tony’s here with me and I think we need to get him to see a Healer.”

Tony suddenly burst out laughing. “Out of the closet,” he wheezed.

“Right,” Harry agreed. “What happened?”

“The door closed on him and he hit his head,” Sirius reported. “He’s got a concussion.”

“Hold on,” Harry called back. “I’m going to get Mrs. Weasley.”

As Harry left, Sirius looked down at Tony in concern as he chuckled over something only he knew about.

***

Chapter Text

Tony stretched as he went down the hall the next afternoon.

After Dumbledore had someone look at him yesterday, Tony had started thinking.

Several different people had been closed in closets within the last few days. Everyone thought it was the house doing it.

And, while it was a plausible theory, Tony felt that it was something else.

He was studying the closet in question - staying as far as he could while being in the hall - and thinking about it.

“Hey, mate,” Ron greeted as he and Harry came around the corner.

“Hey,” he grinned. “I didn’t hear of anyone else getting locked in here today.”

“Yeah,” Harry lifted a shoulder. “Reckon someone fixed the problem.”

Ron scowled at the closet door. “And not a moment too soon. I didn’t want to be locked up again.”

“Me, either.”

Tony frowned at it and stepped inside, looking around thoughtfully. “This is too coincidental to be the house, though.”

“How do you mean?” Harry wanted to know.

“Two people in near close contact by the door. Something pulls those two in. The door slams shut and the timer activates. No, I don’t buy it.”

Ron studied the outside and Harry frowned in response.

“How do you know it really isn’t the house?”

“Gut feeling,” Tony shrugged.

Harry tilted his head and stepped closer to the door. He was then suddenly pulled in and the door slamming shut behind him.

“Prove me right, why don’t you?” Tony grinned at him.

“Sorry,” Harry lifted a shoulder.

“Well, this is interesting,” Ron said through the door. “You two alright in there?”

“Yup,” Tony answered back. “Now, all we really have to do is wait for time to run out.”

“But why would someone do this, though?” Harry shook his head. “What could possibly be motivation for this?”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not sure. Maybe a prank? But it doesn’t seem like anyone’s style… although… Hm.”

“What?” Harry frowned in his direction.

“I think… I have an idea.”

“What’s this idea?”

“I can’t be sure yet. But when we get out of here, I need to do some… observing.”

“Observing?” Harry shook his head. “Of what? Who?”

“Don’t know.”

“What do you need to observe?”

“Don’t know that, either. But I’ll know when I see it. I always do.”

***

Chapter Text

Hermione sighed as she found herself locked in the closet. Again. This time with Tony.

She just couldn’t think why she was always finding herself in a closet with someone.

Tony, however, didn’t seem to mind, chuckling to himself in the corner.

“Is there some reason you seem to find this absolutely hilarious?” she frowned at him.

“This just proves my theory,” he laughed in delight. “Like I knew it would!”

“Does it now. And what, may I ask, is this theory?”

“I can’t tell you,” he got out. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Then what are you at liberty to say?”

“It’s well-intentioned. But ‘whoever’ is doing this is going the wrong way. You can’t rush things, especially with magic.”

“I know that,” she raised an eyebrow. “But still, why? You do have a suspect?”

“Person of interest,” he corrected. “It’s not one hundred percent a done deal, but I’m about there.”

“Hm,” she nodded thoughtfully.

“And anyway, shouldn’t you be four steps ahead of me? Harry’s told me all kinds of things that didn’t make sense to him and Ron. You were the one always coming up with ideas.”

“Yes, but I’ve been busy. Well, and what with the bond’s affects,” she pointed out. “I’m so far behind on my work -”

“I can tell,” Tony shook his head. He’d more than once near tripped over her in the library from where she’d nested.

“And frankly, it’s actually sort of nice to have someone else around that knows what they’re doing.”

Tony smiled slightly. “It would be different if you’d met the team.”

Hermione frowned. “I honestly don’t know if I want to,” she admitted. “They sound horrid.”

“Well, I mean, they’re really not that bad,” he defended. Hermione didn’t like the fact that his tone indicated that he was trying to convince himself.

“Tony, I can sense that you don’t really believe that, but I can also sense that you do. At least, some of it. Oh, I’m sure they are fine as people, but they don’t make for very effective friends, do they?”

“They’re my team, Mi,” he told her.

She was sort of surprised at the new nickname, but pleased all the same. That meant that the older wizard was comfortable with her. She had been sort of anxious that Tony wouldn’t interact with her the way he did with the boys, but she shouldn’t have worried.

Hermione frowned, though. Tony defending his team was all well and good, but she couldn’t help thinking that Tony was trying to keep the friend label, as well. She just didn’t know how well he was doing.

“But, as for the closet issue,” Tony added. “Are you absolutely sure that you haven’t been… seeing anything interesting?”

“Yes, I’m sure… Well, I have noticed Ginny and the twins with their heads together…”

“While that might be a few steps behind,” Tony tried the door again and grinned as the door swung open. He turned back to her, “That is a step in the right direction.”

***

Chapter Text

Alright, it was time to put his plan into action.

Tony peeked around the corner. Yup, there he was. Tony grinned.

Clutching the pilfered item, Tony slipped it and his hand into his pocket as he sauntered around the corner. “Remus!” he smiled as if he hadn’t just been looking for him. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hello, Tony,” Lupin smiled back. “Yes, I’ve been staying here awhile.”

“You aren’t doing anything lately, are you?” Tony sidled up to him. “Because, it’s just… Tonks dropped something and I was looking to return it to her.”

“Oh? What was it?”

Tony took his hand out of his pocket. “Her bracelet.”

“Here, let me see,” he held out his hand for it. Tony gladly dropped it into his palm. “It’s Tonks’ alright,” he confirmed. “Do you need help finding her? I just arrived myself.”

“Could you? Oh, that’d be awesome, Moony, thanks. Well, I can call you Moony, right?”

“Of course, of course,” he nodded, secretly delighted. Tony unobtrusively started herding him down the hall. “Most of my - well, all, really - friends call me that.”

Tony hummed noncommittally as he suddenly paused. “So… have you been dragged into a closet, yet?”

“Can’t say I have,” he frowned, though he’d heard about the strange occurrences.

As Moony still held the bracelet, Tony nodded, walking them closer to the closet behind all of this. Sure enough, the both of them suddenly found themselves in the closet with the timer counting down.

Tony nodded. “I thought that was the case,” he said lightly.

“What?” Remus frowned at him, still fingering the bracelet.

Tony shook his head. “That would be telling, wouldn’t it. But I think I know how to stop this and what’s been going on.”

“It’s not the house, then?” he frowned.

“Nope. It’s not. It’s something else.”

“And are you going to tell me?” he prompted when Tony fell silent.

“No. I don’t plan on it.”

“Are you at least going to put a stop to this?”

“I’m going to give it a few more days.”

“Whatever for?”

“Working theory. If I told you, it would ruin the plan.”

Remus sighed. Tony reminded of him James more than Harry did. Actually, how did Remus know Tony wasn’t actually related to the Potter family? Maybe a cousin?

As soon as the door was open, Tony was gone, a plan forming in his mind.

***

Chapter Text

Harry and Ron sat at a work table in the library under Hermione’s watchful eye to complete their homework.

They were there for almost an hour when Tony suddenly burst through the door.

“I knew it!” he crowed, waving what looked like a bracelet in the air.

“That’s nice,” Hermione told him, paging through a History book.

“Knew what?” Ron frowned. “And isn’t that Tonks’ bracelet?”

“Yup!” Tony beamed. “I know the who, the how and the why. I even think I know the what, but that’s still up in the air.”

“Well, let’s have it then,” Ron sat back.

“Not all of it,” Tony warned. “I’d rather confront the ones behind this myself, if you don’t mind.”

“Alright,” Harry shrugged. “I just want to know what all is going on.”

“Okay,” Tony snagged a stool and settled at the table with them. “Here’s the thing. You know that earlier, everyone kept getting locked in the closet? Well, lately, no one has and everyone thinks the problem’s been solved. But, interestingly enough, that’s not the case. This bracelet is the key to the pattern. Or rather, Tonks is.”

“Tonks has been locking people up in cupboards?” Hermione frowned at him. “Why?”

“Ah, but that’s just it. It’s not Tonks doing anything. Her magic has been the target of a spell and that’s why the only ones getting locked up in the closet are Tonks, myself or whoever is touching something of hers.”

“So,” Harry shook his head. “How are you involved in all this, then?”

“That’s what I didn’t get at first. But I realized why I was also being dragged into this. I’m a target of this, too. And,” his voice lowered, “I think the you know what hasn’t kicked in just yet. Otherwise, I’m sure you would be in my position, as well, but that’s not always the case.”

“I don’t understand,” Ron sighed.

“The spell involved here only targets the core of the people involved. My… original magic, if you will.”

“But I still don’t get it.”

Tony only looked at Hermione with an expectant look on his face. She didn’t disappoint.

“What?! But… are you sure? Why would they…?”

“That,” he pointed at her, “is something I’m about to confirm.”

Chapter Text

Ginny couldn’t understand it.

She had drafted Fred and George into this since they were both able to do magic. They still couldn’t do it.

The spell they’d done on both Tonks and Lupin was supposed to have them locked in the closet. Instead, almost everyone but Tonks and Lupin ended up locked in the closet. None of them could figure out why. The spell was done right, Ginny had done everything the instructions said to do.

And it still didn’t work.

The three of them were in the attic, trying to figure out what went wrong when Tony suddenly opened the door. 

“I thought you three would be here,” he smiled slightly, closing and locking the door behind him.

“Hey, Tony,” Ginny smiled slightly in return. “Did you need something?”

“Actually, yeah.” Green eyes leveled on her. “Call it off.”

Fred flashed a grin. “Call what off, mate?”

“The spell. The one you’re using to try to get Tonks and Moony together.”

“Huh?” Ginny frowned. “But how could you possibly -?”

“Easy,” he shrugged. “Everyone’s noticed you three being up to something. It was around that time that the closet started playing matchmaker. Add in the fact that the closet has started being picky about who it kidnaps and it’s not that hard to guess. I hate to say this, but Tonks isn’t being as secretive with her crush as she would like to believe. And - I found this interesting - it seems that Tonks is one of the targets for this spell.” Here, he withdrew the bracelet from his pocket. “I’ve been experimenting and it seems to me that whoever is holding this bracelet is more likely to be in the closet than someone who isn’t. And, even more interesting, I have recently found myself to be locked in said closet. ‘Now, why,’ I asked myself, ‘would I be locked in the closet with Tonks, who, to my knowledge, has eyes only for Moony?’ Answer: matchmaking spell. Clever as that is, you three forgot one very important detail.”

“Alright,” Ginny threw her hands in the air. “You got us.” She didn’t need to ask for any details because it was clear Tony was well suited for his job if none of the others in the house caught on. “Now, what detail did we forget?”

“We couldn’t have forgot anything,” Fred mused.

“We did what the spell told us to,” George agreed.

“Something from her.”

“Something from him.”

“To lock onto their magic.”

“And lock them up until they confessed their undying love,” they chorused, batting their eyelashes as they held their folded hands to the side.

“Well, you got the ‘something from her’, right, anyway.”

“What?” Ginny frowned. “But it was supposed to be foolproof. Tonks’ bracelet and Moony’s handkerchief. After we figured that the spell worked in general, we narrowed it down.”

“Oh, it would have been foolproof alright, if that had been Moony’s handkerchief to start with.”

“But that couldn’t be,” Ginny shook her head. “We saw him give that handkerchief to Tonks when she spilled something a few days ago.”

“And the reason you thought it was his and no one else’s was because…”

Ginny frowned at him. She didn’t know what he was getting at. They saw Remus give his handkerchief to Tonks. He grabbed it from his pocket and gave it to her. There was no way that it could have been Tony’s -

Oh. Oh.

Ginny dropped her head on the table as she suddenly remembered Remus handing it to Tony with a ‘thanks’ after she and the twins spelled it. At the time, she’d just assumed that he was going to clean it for him, which hadn’t made sense as Remus was more than capable of it himself.

“I let him borrow it after he spilled tea on his sweater. Er, jumper. I told him to give it back to me later and he did. But, only after you handed it to him, saying that he’d dropped it. He didn’t.”

“No,” she conceded. “He didn’t drop it.”

“Sorry, mate,” George offered.

“Yeah, we really thought it was his. Didn’t mean to get you mixed up in this,” Fred agreed.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Tony shrugged. “Just make sure to get your facts straight next time, okay?”

“We will,” Ginny earnestly assured.

***

Chapter Text

“Well,” Ron sat back on the sofa in the drawing room with a grin. “Whatever Tony did, it worked.”

No one had been pulled into any sort of closet since Tony had reappeared late yesterday afternoon claiming that the case had been solved and there should be no trouble with ‘the house’ now.

Hermione seemed to have some idea of what happened because they had exchanged a knowing smile. Harry and Ron weren’t sure what was going on with them, but at least they were starting their own little bond. The boys didn’t feel left out, but they were curious.

“Thank goodness,” Hermione smiled. “Now, I don’t have to worry about being dragged into cupboards with anyone.”

Harry stood. “I think I’m going to get some lunch.”

“I’ll go with you,” Ron volunteered, making Hermione shake her head in fond exasperation and get up to follow them.

“Looks like we spoke too soon,” Harry frowned as he rounded the corner to see Fred, Ginny and George pulled into the troublemaking closet in question.

Hermione was about to go over when she spotted Tony peeking down the opposite end of the hall. “Tony, I thought you said you fixed the problem.”

“I did.”

“That didn’t look like a fixed problem to me.”

“Just giving them a taste of their own medicine,” he shrugged. “Nothing they can’t handle.”

“Are you sure?” Hermione frowned at him.

“Lunch,” he disregarded the question entirely, sweeping them along. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll come back and release the spell in an hour. Plenty of time to figure out how to do it better next time.”

“Next time? And do what better?” Ron questioned.

“Oh, there will be a next time. Of that, I’m sure. The match hasn’t been made yet. Knowing the actual targets personally, it probably won’t be for awhile.”