Thankful to a Boggart
By: Amy Elizabeth
Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter are sole property of J.K. Rowling no infringement or financial gain is intended.
A/N:I wanted to write a little actual RLNT tonight after my Ginny/Tonks focused piece. Not exactly uplifting per say, but pretty much fluff either way. Please enjoy!
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"You know, once one took the form of a staircase." She waved her hand distractedly at the shaking chest, "But I think it was just being cheeky."
One eyebrow shot up into the hair falling over his forehead, "A cheeky boggart?"
"There have been stranger things. Besides," she huffed, "I hardly think the stairs are my greatest fear."
"Maybe they should be."
"You're a funny man, Remus Lupin."
A blush tinged his cheeks, "But I can assume this is the first time this particular…form has happened?"
Her blush flooded her cheeks, "Yea. Though I have been trying to get it to take a human form since Ron and Harry told me about you and Neville Longbottom. I'd love to make it be Mad-Eye in drag, preferably when he was around, but I can't get the darn thing to think I'm really afraid of the old codger."
He let out a hoarse chuckle but couldn't think of anything else to say.
He had walked by and peeked in the room to see Nymphadora standing over a prone body, much like Molly Weasley had done a few days earlier, when they had encountered the first boggart in Grimmauld Place. While she hadn't screamed like Molly had, nor was she crying, her immobility had caused Remus to enter the room and offer his assistance in getting the boggart into a chest anyway.
Until he saw his own face, very pale in death, looking up from the floor.
Thankfully, his arrival shocked her into action. Moments after he entered the room he had heard her cry Riddikulusand force the boggart into the chest in which it was currently trapped.
He hadn't moved. The realization that Nymphadora Tonks' greatest fear was him dead had stopped him more forcefully than any boggart.
"Who else did it take the form of?" He couldn't help his curiosity. Molly's had taken the form of all her children, and her…
"No one." Her voice was very soft, "It just stayed like that."
He couldn't figure out what to think. Nymphadora's greatest fear is you dead. What did that mean?
"Nymphadora," he paused and waited be corrected, but when it didn't come he continued on, a little surprised, "I don't want you to worry about my dying."
"That's impossible." Her voice was calm but incredibly forceful, "Its impossible to not worry about the person who means the most to you."
Means the most to…What?
"I suppose its kind of silly to try and deny everything now, since you've caught me standing over your dead body."
He shuddered a little at the phrasing. "Deny what, exactly?"
She laughed, "Only you would ask that of a woman who's greatest fear is your death. What do you think, Remus? I'm interested in you. Hell, I'm more than interested if that boggart is any indication."
"Interested in…" Remus swallowed hard, thinking how unfair it was to be still in shock by the image of himself dead at Tonks' feet while being dealt with the far from unpleasant but still earth-shattering news that she was interested in him.
"You drive me crazy." She paused and smiled coyly, "Though most of the time in a very pleasant way."
He swallowed harder.
"I'm interested in you romantically, you prat." She swiftly closed the distance between them and captured his mouth with hers with a brief but far from chaste kiss. He had just recovered from the shock and begun to reciprocate when she pulled away and out of reach.
"Drinks. Tomorrow. After the Order meeting, no excuses." She smiled at him as he gazed at her, more than a little dumfounded.
"Yes." He grimaced a little at the shaky quality of his voice.
"Good." Her smile suddenly became softer and more vulnerable and before he knew it she was inches away from him again. She leaned into the kiss much slower this time, her hands grasping at the soft material of his sweater, her body leaning firmly against him. She stayed long enough this time to let him respond, his hand tangling in her hair, one thumb stroking her jaw line. He tightened his grip as she pulled back,
"That boggart was only partially accurate. My greatest fear isn't you dying," She placed one hand on his chest, "Its one of us dying without experiencing this." She made a small movement between his chest and hers, "And I will not let that happen."
As he leaned down to kiss her again he suddenly realized that this might be the first time anyone had been thankful to a boggart.