Prize money and an unwelcome guest.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Near the far end of the village down a rather dark back ally Dan Hubbles slowly wondered down it with a broad smile on his face. In his pocket was large sum of golden gallons jingling around, in on arm was a small cloth bag full of his other winnings that he had striped off the poor fools he was playing against. However his greatest prize he was linked arm in arm with. One of the old warlocks he was betting with had run out of things to bet, all expect his rather beautiful granddaughter. So after every other wizard there bet everything they had to try and win the prize Dan pulled out his extra hand and won everything.

As they continued down the corridor, swapping the odd whisper into each others ear. It was then that Dan thought he saw something moving in front of them. Handing the bag to the girl he pulled out his wand from inside his robe and with a small flick a beam of light came out the end. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw some standing at the end, blocking there way out.

[Gregory Greenwich]

Greg had viewed some rather mysterious and quite frankly disturbing goings on, gambling of a most atrocious manner, to his mind at least. He despised such bad habits, and found it no surprise at all when he peeked into a gambling den, only to see Hubbles dicing away, a wide grin plastered across his ludicrous face; how Theodora had managed to put up with him Greg really couldn't fathom. He found the man thoroughly disagreeable; mainly because he was a threat to the Ministry, and wasn't on particularly good terms with his esteemed mentor Locksley. Prejudices were most certainly coming to play, but Greg was naturally suspicious of any man who wore a bright yellow tie, which coincidently went very well with his own green sweater, only Theodora still hadn't given it him back since borrowing it well over two days ago; Greg's patience was wearing thin with her over it, though she claimed she'd sent it to be dry cleaned; a likely story, he'd thought dismissively, it doesn't even need much drying nor ironing, she's probably lost it, next thing you know she'll be telling me she saw someone bleeding to death so used it to stem the gushing flow of blood from a burst artery, but knowing Greg he would likely believe her, he being incredibly gulliable and her being talented at lying to him.

Greg was far from amused when he saw Hubbles clearly having a very jolly time, not only did he win all the money, but the girl as well, trust him he thought with a deep sigh which fogged up the glass he had been pressed against looking in on the shabby, smoky gamling den. His imagination really did run wild. Deciding it was high time to deal with the illegal goings on Greg took a large winding detour to arrive ahead of Hubbles as he strode along nonchantly down an alley with the pretty girl upon his arm.

Greg chose his entrance purposefully wanting it to be as dramatic as possible, striding out purposefully from the shadows he yelled, in a very strong voice for him; "stop where you are, Hubbles."

Growing in confidence as his voice had rung out strong and clear Greg continued happily "drop the wand," not giving the Professor chance to react he acted decisively; with a flick of his wrist and a small murmer of Accio he drew the taller, broader man's wand clean from his hand. Smiling happily he tried to contain his glee, but failed miserably his smile broadening considerably to a smug look.

"Gambling has been outlawed without a certification from the Ministry, I'm at liberty to arrest you, but if you answer my questions openly, I shall let it go this once." Clearly Greg had practised his speech and kept his slightly narrowed eyes fixed upon Hubbles.

"What did you tell Theodo..I mean Miss Holmes?" He asked but on seeing Hubbles' defiant expression his confidence wavered, he'd been doing so well, with a tiny gulp his smile evaporated as he struggled to keep his wand arm steady; any mention of Holmes and Hubbles in the same sentence sent shivers of alarm down his chilled spine. He only hoped Hubbles wouldn't notice his sudden nervousness...

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan continued to smile smugly as the boy in front of him tried to sound like he had some form of authority. However his smile shrunk a tiny bit when he lost hold of his wand, the ally way grew darker and he felt the grip of the girl next to him tighten. Stunned slightly by the boys rash move Dan was about to reason with him, however the next thing he said truly took the smile from his face. He mentioned Theodora.

If the ally’s light was perfect everyone would have been able to see Dan’s cheeks turn a light red. Not only the thought of Theodora was embarrassing the fact that it was said in front of the fair lady next to him was even worse. How was he meant to reply to that without even lying to a ministry official or getting himself into a situation with the witch next to him. Puffing out his cheeks Dan pulled himself away from his prize and wondered over to the ministry official. Then in a low tone in hope that the witch behind him did not hear Dan’s face lit up with a smile.

“So you are Theodora’s room mate.” Dan gave a soft chuckle. “Your bed is bouncy, and rather comfortable for…”

Dan had to break off as he noticed that the wands from Greg’s hands had gone flying behind them towards the witch he was with. Suddenly a force so strong pushed them against the wall and the brunet was looking at them both with a rather satisfied smile.

“If any of you try to move then you will be dead before you no it.” The witch glared from person to person, her eyes bulging as she remembered the bag that was in her hand. An exited squeal meant that she had found something rather valuable and when Dan tired to get her attention she could only frown.

“Please baby, let us down from the wall. I think you will regret it otherwise.”

“What it my name, if you can tell me my name then I will let you down from the wall, Hubbles.”

She spat out his name, looking on with eager eyes as Dan struggled in vein to think of her name. It never really crossed his mind to find out what she was called, she was just a bonus from a night out gambling, they would have a harmless fling, end of story. With a glance over at the other man with him Dan raised his eyebrow and looked back at the women in defeat. When she trigged that he had given up she slowly wondered over and slapped Dan hard around the face then stepped over towards Greg.

“If you ever try and arrest me or my Grandfather then I will hunt you down and slit your throat where you sleep do you understand?”

She gave Greg a vicious smile showing her pointed yellow teeth, as Dan looked on he was almost thankful that this had happened, that site repulsed him.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

As Tonks flexed her fingers, the skin burning from the impact with Daniel's face, she turned to Gregory and cast him a quick wink before looking back at Daniel with a wicked little smile, her nasty, crooked teeth - a transformation she was rather proud of as it had taken a lot of accuracy to get such a perfect, grotty yellow - prominent. Grabbing the front of his robes she twisted the material into a knot in her fist, yanking him forward.

'As the young man said: gambling's outright illegal, sweetheart. You should be ashamed of yourself, you should. You're lucky I didn't twat you one harder for being so dishonest.' She remarked in mock anger.

Letting go of Daniel and raising Gregory's wand, twirling it teasingly in her fingers, Tonks jostled the bag of gold about in one hand, recalling with another ugly smile Bentley's face when he had lost all that Ministry gold to a Hogwarts teacher of all people. He'll be in trouble for that one, she thought darkly. Come on, Tonks, you've messed with him plenty now. The slap was enough, she reminded herself reluctantly.

It was time to drop the act.

With an elaborate sigh Tonks regarded the two of them for just one moment more before tossing Gregory's wand back to him, slipping the government gold inside her robes. Concentration filled her face and the long brown hair melted back into a short, brightly coloured bob, the poker straight nose returning to its usual button.

'Wotcher, Greg.'

That'll teach him to come invading on my assignment. What's he doing here, anyway? She thought as she stepped back up to the two of them, flashing a naughty smile (this time a white one).

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan looked on in utter bewilderment, the girl that had threatened him and pinned both he and Greg against the wall changed before his eyes. His face stung from where she had slapped him but also his pride was badly hurt and his confidence slightly shaken. He had been fooled by a member of the ministry, a group of people Dan always said to be complete idiots and he could do better. However this time he truly had been fooled and truly beaten. Dan could not even bring himself to look at the witch for he knew that as soon as he looked at her he would feel the same sense of failure that he had before, a feeling that he hated.

Although her words were harsh they did not seem to have sunk in, Dan thought of many things that were illegal and people still did them and even things that were so dangerous they should be made illegal. It was his own personal sense of self pity that seemed to block out any other emotion of guilt or remorse, it was the seer fact that Dan had been beaten, he could not handle it. Finding his confidence again and his want to fight back Dan looked upwards and kept his gaze fixed on the witch in front of him.

“So it was your job to spy on me playing a harmless game of cards? Nice to know that the ministry has faith in you for the important tasks.”

Dan shot her a rather smarmy grin and folded his arms while leaning backwards on the ally wall. If the girl was going to treat him like this then he saw no reason not to do the same thing to her. It also was a safe guess to say that he was outnumbered, although she treated Greg with a ruff hand it was most likely to confuse him and with out his wand Dan may have to be willing to us muggle style fighting to get out of the problem he was in.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

'Spot on.' Tonks grinned back, equally unperturbed.

The young Auror suddenly placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder, sharply spinning him around and holing his hands behind his back. 'If it's a crime, Hubbles, you think it'd be logical that there'd be someone to actually police it, wouldn't you think so? The world doesn't stop just because there's a few more nutters than usual running around. Hold still please.' Fishing into her robes, Tonks produced a pair of anti-apparation handcuffs, promptly snapping them around his wrists before turning him around.

At Daniel's indignant stare she spared him an apologetic smile, although her eyes told him this had been coming. 'You may not be a Neo Death Eater but you're still a criminal in this instance.' She reminded him.

Reaching forward, she began patting down his robes pockets and trouser legs, looking for any other less than innocent items he may have stashed away. Tonks knew perfectly well that the only thing Hubbles was guilty of was falling for a pretty face, but the on lookers gawking as they shuffled by were also part of the reason for Tonks's reprimand. Hubbles was nothing more than an example.

'Righto then, Hubbles.' Tonks declared, stepping back and whipping out a small leaf of paper. 'As it's your first offense I'd say arresting you would be a bit harsh, but I reckon a fine will fit you quite nicely. What you say, Mr Greenwich?' She now looked at Greg, her face a mask of indifference.

[Gregory Greenwich]

Glaring most profusely at Hubbles after visibly struggling to rid his expression of downright shock and disgust, Greg gasped trying in vain to rid his mind of the rather vivid images flashing before him. Feeling rather sick he was about to hex Hubbles to oblivion when something rather unexpected occured.

Circumstances often got out of hand incredibly quickly, Greg was by no means adept at handling any sort of situation well at all, give him someone to track and he'd be fine; otherwise he was a bag of nerves and was easily surprised, he really wasn't the quickest knife in the draw; by a long shot.

Wand flying from his grasp he felt incredibly insecure without his only real means of defence, and stared glumly at the witch, feeling strangely unafraid of her death threat, if he died serving the Ministry he would be oddly proud and contented.
"You can't escape the law," he mumbled in his own defence, careful that she didn't hear his murmer.

Greg stared around in dumb confusion as the witch suddenly changed her stance lecturing Hubbles in a grim tone of satisfaction. "Err," he mumbled wondering if he should somehow intervene. Dumstruck as the witch released him and tossed back his wand he nonetheless gratefully accepted it, hugging it close and gripping it fiercely as if his life depended upon it. Then the answer unfolded itself as she morphed back into her usual beautiful self; it was Tonks, he really couldn't believe he had been fooled by her admittedly brilliant disguise. His bewilderment still clear he waved at her grinning feebly. "Oh it's you," he murmered in revelation.

"Sorry, hiya Tonks," he called out more brightly squirming somewhat in apparent discomfort, something about her really kept him on edge, even though she was incredibly kind to him, the way she changed form on a whim unnerved Greg no end.

Nonetheless glad that she took complete control of the situation he smiled happily as she dealth efficiently with Hubbles, perhaps one day he would be as successful and effective as her; he could at least hope. Waiting patiently and politely, with wand pointed defensively at Hubbles, Greg nodded as she asked for his judgement, "y..y..yeah T..Tonks." He agreed. Receiving an encouraging smile from his companion he added more firmly now the situation was under control.
"A hefty fine, for his disgusting acts," he stated glaring most profusely at Hubbles; he still couldn't quite believe how outrageous he was.

Remembering further details he added, "Oh err, you probably already now this," he said nervously "but I'm reliably informed he was seen fighting with a student, s..so it isn't his f..first offense, r..really." he managed to garble out his mouth twitching nervously in a half smile and his gaze fixed upon Tonks, in was in awe of her achievements and whenever they met he felt an urge to congratulate her, thankfully he resisted it.
"Err so...yeah," he finished lamely.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

'Oh really?' Tonks said in feinted surprise, inclining her head toward Gregory and raising her eyebrows in mild disbelief.

Giving a low tut she licked the nib of her pencil and began scribbling away on a minuscule form covered in tiny writing and little charts to fill in. 'You've certainly been pushing your luck lately, haven't you, Hubbles? Lucky for you we only have that last offense on word of mouth, so you'll be let off on that one... for now.'

Finishing off with an elaborate signature, Tonks ripped off the leaf and folded it with one hand as she looked up at Daniel with a heavy sigh, tucking it into the front of his robes. 'You have twenty days to pay the fine. For the amount of gold I witnessed you win and loose I'd say a hundred and forty galleons will teach you a lesson, especially on your salary.' Taking hold of his shoulder and elbow roughly, Tonks gestured for Gregory to do the same. 'We'll escort you back to the castle where we'll inform your employer. I hope for your sake he doesn't make too harsh a decision.' She added curtly.

She now looked at Gregory, a small smirk appearing on her face. He knew how much she adored sorting people out, and he'd done her a big favour in letting her take control - it had been him who had distracted Hubbles long enough for her to relieve him of his wand after all.

'Anything to add, Greenwich?' She requested smartly.

[Gregory Greenwich]

Feeling proud as Tonks feigned surprise at Hubbles' actions that he reported, and guessed she was probably only doing that to make him feel more useful and appreciated; which he was very grateful for. Nodding his head in agreement with Tonks and giving Hubbles a look of disgust; daring him to respond, Greg half-thought of adding that Dan had been incredibly naughty with Theodora but thought better of it; after careful analysis. He'd only ruin his own friendship with Theodora and it probably wouldn't even help convicting the dastardly teacher anyway. Though he was dying to tell somebody to get some much needed advice, he nonetheless kept quiet, knowing his friendship with Theodora was more important than the slight possibility of being able to convict Hubbles with some charge, that he couldn't even think of anyway.

"I'm sure Professor Darrow will make the right decision," murmered Greg sorely hoping he would sack Dan, landing a heavy hand upon his shoulder Greg pushed him along roughly, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't support his weight at all.

"N..no..T..Tonks," he murmered "I d..don't think so." As the pair strode along with Hubbles between them he glanced nervously at Tonks but felt assured that he was doing the right thing, if Theodora wished to divulge her illicit deeds with Hubbles, then she would, it was her choice and hers alone, but that didn't stop Greg feeling incredibly guilty.

"I..I didn't realise you'd come here Tonks," he said conversationally but also apologetically, realising that his blunders could easily have foiled her plans. "Always a master of disguise," he complimented quickly, practically blurting it out, and feeling embarrassed for it, his cheeks instantly heating up and turning a pale pink.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan could not believe what he was hearing. He was being arrested. Out of everything that could have happened, out of all the things he had actually done in his life it was a harmless bit of gambling that he was being arrest for. He could not believe he was degrading the name of Hubbles so much, his own and family pride was being dragged through the dirt simply because he wanted a bit of fun. As the handcuffs were clamped onto his wrists he could not help but let out a groan, and he let out an even louder one when the fine was placed into his pocket.

It was only when they started to lead him away that Dan thought about trying to fight back in an attempt to gain back pride and also to stop the humiliation. Looking up from the ground he shot Tonks a small smile trying to seem full of confidence.

“Miss…Tonks did he say?” Dan shot a small glare at Greg. “Is it possible for me to plea to your better nature? I was simply having a bit of fun gambling, you can not tell me you have not done something that was fun simply because it was against the law? Also the incident with the student was something very trivial, trust me if you met the girl you will want to ram her wand down her throat within a few seconds. But the main thing is that she started it.”

Dan looked at Tonks with a definitive glare. He told her the truth and he could see no harm in it, whether it actually made his case stronger or would get him and even bigger fine he truly did not care anymore. He was a Hufflepuff, honesty is the best policy.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

‘I’m very well, Gregory. Thank you.’ Tonks replied tautly, her tone indicating that this wasn’t the time to start chitchatting. Gregory often made the mistake of loosing the good-Auror, bad-Auror façade – which never worked very well for Tonks and Gregory anyway, as they were both much too agreeable to be the bad-Auror – in front of detainees and suspects at the least helpful times, and Tonks’s cheeks tinted red slightly, worried she had lost some of her no-nonsense image in front of Hubbles.

Clearing her throat, Tonks smiled politely as she listened to Daniel try and worm his way out of a measly fine. He’d seem much more graceful to simply accept it and maintain a stiff upper lip toward his captors.

‘Unfortunately, Mr Hubbles, if the law bends then it breaks – and as a good abiding citizen and fellow ex-Hufflepuff I'm sure you’ll appreciate that this has to be done. Entertaining as it may have been – ‘ She wasn’t afraid to admit it, grinning shamelessly for a moment. ‘ – we can’t let people run amuck just because they’re trying to have a bit of fun.’ She said coolly.

As they entered onto the highstreet (several people stopping and turning to stare at what couldn't possibly be a Hogwarts professor being led away in handcuffs) Tonks's hair changed from its usual bright shade to a serious dark brown.

‘And I’m sure I’d like to ram my wand down the throat of any woman stupid enough to go near you.’

Blah. End.