"Using one of the quotes provided, write a story that is either inspired by the quote, or features the quote in the story itself."

Appearances often are deceiving.
- Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.

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Onto the story. Please read and review. This is set sometime between the pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. All characters belong to J K Rowling, all I have is brownies.

You don't understand…(You Could Never Deceive Me...)

She watched him, her brown eyes unblinking and her breathing calm and steady as she did so. She was careful not to make a sound. He could always hear basically everything, but right now it was more important than ever that he didn't hear her. She had been caught in the past and if it happened again now then she didn't know what might happen…what kind of talk it could lead to…

She rested her head against the door jam; her fingers wrapped around the door knob, ready to pull it shut and hide herself at any moments notice. They weren't alone in the house. Molly was downstairs cleaning up after dinner and Kingsley was going over a stack of papers before he left to go on his night-time watch, but that was all. The fairly well sized mansion was basically empty, compared to how it usually was. How it used to be.

Some of her hair fell in front of her face, obscuring her vision a little. She brushed the mousy brown hair back behind an ear and sighed ever so softly. He moved a little on the sofa he was settled into, perhaps just in his sleep or perhaps from the noise she had made, but either way she ducked back a bit, before very slowly moving back to gaze at him again. His eyes were still closed, his mouth ever so slightly open as he slept, some of his pepper streaked hair falling into his face. Against her smartest thought she slowly entered the room, closing the door behind her. Not that many people used the library or study anyway, she figured they would be okay for a moment.

Against his chest lay a hardcover book, one of those he had saved from the pile of books Sirius had planned to throw out, it had been in the pile of 'boring', since it hadn't qualified for the 'dangerous and cursed' pile or the 'dark arts' pile (Dumbledore had taken them, some had been worthy to put in the restricted section of Hogwarts library for the 7th year Defence Against the Dark Arts students to use as study guides) there had been another pile but it escaped her mind at that moment. Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds was lying against his chest, still open to his place, pages down and showing the cover to her inquisitive eyes. She peered over at it, the cover was showing a picture of hell with a young, pretty girl sobbing on her knees as a much older man offered her a plate of fruit, decorated with seeds and leaves. She frowned, immediately understanding the connection he had been making as he read it. She picked up the book, and read over the part he had read up to.

"Zeus shivered at the thought. The little people on the earth would quickly stop paying tribute to the gods if their crops stopped growing and their trees died.

"It's not up to me." he said gruffly. "There are rules. If Persephone eats anything while she is in the Underworld, she cannot come back to the earth. That's the rule."

"Then what are you waiting for?" said Demeter. "Send your messenger this instant!"

And though Zeus sent Hermes, fasted flying of all the gods, Demeter sped ahead of him that day, pulling on his sleeve, begging him to hurry."

She remembered the story now, from bedtime stories her mother had told her when she was young. It was the story of how the seasons of the year had come into the world. Out of the 12 pomegranate seeds Pluto of the Underground had offered Persephone, she had eaten six of them. The law had been if anyone accepted Pluto's hospitality then she'd be locked down there forever. Zeus had finally decide that to match the six of the 12 seeds she had eaten she would live six of the 12 months down with Pluto as his queen, and would be able to return to her family for the other half of the year, giving the world Spring and Summer.

Nymphadora closed the book with a sharp slapping noise, waking Remus immediately. Kicking herself for it she tried to move back into the shadows, but only managed to trip over a small table instead, spilling his now cold Hot Chocolate to the ground.

"Tonks…" he spoke quietly, knowing it was her immediately.

She bit her lip, knowing what was coming. She almost wished he would call her Nymphadora, at least then it meant he was in a good mood.

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

She couldn't answer. He knew she didn't have an answer for this situation anyway.

He sat up wearily on the sofa, and patted the spot next to him, indicating for her to sit down beside him. She did so, and they both said nothing for a moment, she trained her eyes on the flicking fire, her head bowed down a little, and she didn't notice his eyes gazing at her at all.

She jumped a little as his fingers were suddenly touching her hair, resting on her shoulder as they rubbed the mousy brown hair, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Why can't you be happy without me Tonks?" he asked softly, pain evident in his words.

"Why can't you be happy with me?" she replied before she had time to think of her answer. He winced visibly.

"We've been through this time, and time again Nymphadora…"

She frowned. Rethinking her earlier thought, he also called her by her first name when he was annoyed, or trying to make a point.

"Why can't you just try it? We could just give it a chance…you're not too old at all…my parents are eleven years apart and think how old we, as wizards, live to be! I don't care about your lack of wealth, since when do either of us need high maintenance? If we can cope as we are doing now then we'd do fine…"

"You're forgetting the main reason…" Remus couldn't look at her anymore, and his hand had long since dropped from her hair.

"Oh you'd never hurt me Remus…you just wouldn't, I know it."

"Appearances often are deceiving." She was surprised at the harshness of his voice, matched with his bitter smile.

She couldn't stop the pause she felt herself thinking, and his bitter smile only widened.

"I'm an Auror…it's my job to-"

He rose a hand, a finger pressing against her lips to silence her while he looked into the flames. She managed to speak again anyway.

"But if anyone could be able to surely it would be-"

"Just…can't you…can't you understand that I would never be able to live with myself if I did anything to you?" he demanded, cutting into her words. "It's not the fact I don't think you can't do whatever comes in your way…not at all…it's the fact I could do something. I've lost everyone Tonks, James and Lily…Sirius twice…Peter a long time ago and yet he still exists today. My parents a long time ago as well now. How could I stand to loose you as well…?"

Tonks couldn't say a thing as these words sunk in. It was so tender for him to be thinking that of her, and so sad to think that he wouldn't let himself get close to anyone now because of it. What a life to live.

She hung her head. How could she reply to that? Saying she would never let that happen to her would only be disrespectful to their memories, anything else would be disrespectful to Remus.

"Do you understand?" he asked, his voice so soft and so sorry for what he had to say to her.

She nodded miserably, but she didn't agree with it for one moment.

"I'm sorry Nymphadora…" he leaned close, and she could smell his scent, a smell of old wood, ashes and boot polish, and his lips were pressed to her forehead, one of his hands wound in hers tightly.

"Do you care about me?" she asked suddenly, although her voice was quiet.

He seemed a little startled by her question.

"Of course I do Tonks…I care about everyone in the Order…"

She frowned. That hadn't been what she meant and she knew he knew it as well.

"Remus…"

He looked down again, his eyes resting on their entwined fingers out of the corner of his eye so she wouldn't see him looking at them.

"I…I feel strongly for you Nymphadora…I could possibly love you if I allowed myself…you know that. You've known that for as long as I have, haven't you? But…I can't let it happen…I just can't…"

She smiled, softly and painfully as she felt her eyes well up with tears, and she gently tilted up his head to press her lips against his. He resisted for a moment, but only one. He welcomed her kiss and drew her in, both with blissfully closed eyes as they held each other close, lips moving slowly and ever so softly against each others, just like the time two weeks ago. It felt so long ago now. All too soon though he pulled away from her and stood up.

"I'm sorry Nymphadora…"

With that he forced himself to walk from the room, leaving her gazing after him, then breaking down into tears once more. She lay where he had just a little while before in front of the fire for quite some time after that.