Disclaimer: As much as I would very much like to own Remus Lupin, I do not, nor do I own Harry Potter or anything therein related. JKR does.
Parting Words
"You're leaving," she says, not even accusing as she stands on the bottom step of the staircase at Twelve Grimmauld Place and watches as the man in front of her already has one foot out the door and hadn't planned on telling her goodbye.
His eyes close, briefly, his gloved hand on the doorknob. "Yes."
She doesn't even bother trying to hide the tears that slide down her face, hot and thick. "Where are you going?" she says, her heart already breaking.
He sighs. "I'm going... undercover. With Greyback's pack."
A look of anguish spreads across her face. "Greyback's... pack? Remus, you're going to go live with werewolves, undercover, trying to convince them that you're suddenly supporting Voldemort? That's insane, they'll kill you!"
He looks down at the dirty rug, not wanting to meet her eyes. "It is... necessary," he mutters.
"Necessary?" Tonks bounds down the last step and closes the distance between them. "It's necessary for you to die, Remus? For what? So we can try to win over a few worthless werewolves who can be anyone's, for a price?"
"Dumbledore asked me to," he says softly, still staring at the floor.
"You're going to go off on a suicide mission because Dumbledore asked you to? Remus, how can you even consider—"
"Because I'm the only one who can! I won't just sit around doing nothing, Nymphadora, while everyone else is off being Aurors, able to actually do something in this war!" He looks at her, then, and she catches a glimpse of anger, of guilt in his eyes.
More tears fall from her eyes and land on the floor. "You were going off to what could very well be your death and you didn't even say goodbye." Soft words, accusing now, and she sinks to the floor covers her face with her hands.
"Nymphadora—"
"My name is Tonks!"
"Tonks." And then he bends down and grabs her by the waist and pulls her upright again, a hand on her arm to make sure that she's steady.
She tries to compose herself, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve before meeting his gaze again. "Do you hate me so much that you have to sneak out to avoid seeing me?" she says, her voice soft, full of pain.
"No!" he shouts, as if disgusted by the thought. "How could you think that, Nymphadora? How could I possibly hate you?"
"Then why, Remus?" A simple question, filled with so much passion, desire, longing, and he hates that he's causing her so much pain.
"Because," he says, and before she can tell him that because is not an answer, she's trapped between his body and the wall and he's kissing her, hard, and she can't believe this is actually happening. She kisses him back, her arms round his neck and she never wants to stop. But then he's wrenching his lips from hers and his breath is all ragged and she's got her answer. His amber eyes bore into hers, willing her to understand, and she wants to burst into tears all over again.
"Don't go," she says.
"I have to." And he's pulling away, his hand on the doorknob once more, opening it and stepping out.
His voice just before there's a pop and he Disapparates: "Goodbye, Nymphadora."
And she's left standing on the doorstep, staring at the spot from which he'd just vanished, realising that now she's the one who hasn't said goodbye.