White Velvet

A/N: Okay, so it's 107 out here in Phoenix and I'm dying…

—I wish it was snowing. Anyway—

Enjoy!

She slipped on the stone steps. The rush of air through her lungs made her eyes widen in surprise. The warmth of the bookstore was replaced by the cold of the snow falling around her. And the intrusion of the voice stabbing her surprise made her breath catch twice.

The pallid blob of hand that had clenched her wrist was chilled but miraculously comforting. The sound of a man's voice radiated from the pale unobtrusive throat belonging to that said figure. "Careful."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Along with her face, her hair changed to that of an embarrassing shade of bright pink instead of the dark purple it had been. Pursing her lips, Tonks apologized again, thanked this courteous man for catching her on such an off time, and resumed walking down the street. It wasn't more than three minutes when she resurfaced from her continued musing to find him gallivanting in the street alongside her. "Are you following me?" she queried in a challenging, superior tone. The playfulness that colored it was almost clear and invisible if it hadn't been for the smile glued to her face and the pitiful, caught look that captured his like prey.

"Sorry." He stopped in the street, and she slowed to a stop herself after a few more steps. She felt like he was playing a game…

"Can I help you?"

"Uhm."

She paused for effect, just to be polite—she was surprised at the patience she was lending him. "Do you need a place to go?" His eyes studied her and for once she realized just how dark they were. Unlike Remus, he had the eyes of blood underneath the soft silver light of a full moon. But, like Remus, he was pale, as pale as the snow to be exact… and skinny. Unbearably, undeniably skinny she would tell Remus several times a week. The thought lit the smile on her face brightly.

And his words brought her back to the cold of the snow on her exposed skin.

"I can't—" He sounded almost like a child. She had first guessed that he was poor… but the coat he wore—a velvet beauty with buttons of silver, particularly echoing the definition of warmth—and the ebony waves of his hair were too clean and well-maintained for him to have lack of employment. She didn't believe she had caught someone on this day. It was supposed to be a shopping day for Remus.

"Where exactly are you from?" she retorted impatiently. The patience was wearing thin, and her surprise at herself was washing away. At her tone, he shuffled his polished shoes in the snow, yeah, he's definitely not poor, she thought suddenly—suddenly…

He pushed her against the window of a nearby shop and whispered against the vulnerability of her warm neck.

"I'm a vampire." His tongue laced the veins of her throat with a chill unlike any other she had felt before. The hair pricked fearfully at the back of her neck, filling her stomach with a foreboding that she was not used to at all. The pink locks of her hair changed from those of a bright, raucous pink to that of a blazing red. It stood out well against her imperial purple turtleneck and the blaring white snow of winter's breath. It matched his eyes, lit in the shadows of her fear.

She gasped quietly, her breath ragged as she closed her eyes. What is bloody hell happening Pushing the figure roughly away from her own body, she stared sternly at the man—vampire—in front of her… innocent and guilty-stricken.

"I—I… I am so sorry. I couldn't help myself. I smelled the werewolf on you, and—well, I—" He stammered, staring at his feet, lip trembling. Why hadn't he bitten her? Didn't they just attack viciously, carelessly and after the bite throw their useless victims away like a piece of used paper or trash? She didn't understand. The clouds shrouded the sun and the snow fell harder, the wind came louder and his words echoed in her ears.

"What are you trying to say?" Compared to her, he was a…

"I need somewhere to stay, and I cannot if I—I don't like to intrude."

"You've already intruded more than you think," Tonks muttered. She looked up at him carefully. Gingerly feeling the bruised veins in her neck, Tonks moved against the wall of whatever building she stood in front of. Immediately, she remembered that they were standing in front of a bustling crowd in the middle of a December snowstorm. "What's your name?"

"My name is Xavier Black. And as I stated before, I am a vampire." His voice had obtained some sort of unknown strength.

Word by word, the name struck her as a shock. "From the Black family?" At this question, he nodded, "The Wizarding family, Black?" A more fervent nod and he continued as if he was cutting her off, adding to the conversation.

"That is why I didn't bite you. We are of some sort of… relation—I understand—and I need your help. I know the name is wretched, people spit on it. But I assure you, I am under no Death Eater influence. I would be what you call a loner; my family has shunned me for years, being what I am, and because of my father…" His voice was smooth and unyielding.

Tentatively, she continued, "Then why do you ask me for help? I can't do anything for you—"

Simply, he spoke, "Because you're in danger."

TBC

Moony73