Prompt: Player 1, emphasis on italics and similes. OTP of Thosedarndursleys, Tonks/Remus.
Perhaps it was fate. Destined to happen anyway, even if the circumstances hadn't been like this. Still, Nymphadora Tonks had not expected to fall in love like she did. While she'd been a vivacious schoolgirl, she'd never been one with a crush on her teachers. Of course, with Snape, Binns, and Quirrell taking up most of the teaching positions that corresponded with her preferences, it was no wonder.
Remus Lupin, however. . .
She remembered the night she first met him. The night they were called together for the Order of the Phoenix. It was a Phoenix Patronus in the middle of the night, like some divine star coming to tell her her bound duty or whatnot. Something like that.
She'd made a few excuses to get out of the office earlier than they would have preferred, and she soon arrived at Hogwarts. The place was swarming with Aurors and other Wizarding adults, and she wasn't so old as to not pass as a Hogwarts student if she tried.
Tonks entered Dumbledore's office, and was surprised to discover that Mad-Eye wasn't in the room full of people. People like Hestia Jones and Dedalous Diggle, among others. They didn't really pay attention to her. They knew she was of the Order.
She silently searched the room for Mad-Eye, but to no avail. He wasn't there. That was unimaginable to Tonks. How could he not be there?! He was one of the best, and supported Dumbledore to boot! Where could he have gone?
In her careful, silent searching, her eyes briefly rested on a man in his mid-thirties or perhaps older (the gray streaks in his hair and scars lining the skin that showed threw her off) and she quickly looked away.
How could she not know what was to come? She later reflected on that moment several times in the darkness of her apartment like some blushing schoolgirl.
After the brief meeting, which was mostly to secure their alliance and tell the horrible news (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. He was back and would go after Harry Potter in particular) that the man came to talk to her.
"Nymphadora Tonks, is that right?" he asked as he approached.
"I prefer my surname only," she said through gritted teeth. She then became curious. "How do you know my name?"
"Well, you are Andromeda Tonks's daughter," he said. "I knew her cousin in school and met her acquaintance. Besides, Alastor told me that you had finally passed Auror exams, and with real talent."
"That sounds awfully nice for Mad-Eye," Tonks replied, trying to avoid her blush. (Why was she blushing?)
"Well. That was more of a paraphrase, not an exact quote," he corrected. "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way. I suspect we'll be seeing more of each other, with this Order business."
"Of course," she replied. "I'll look forward to that."
With a wink, she walked away, surprised by her own bold audacity.
And see him she did. During her work with the Order, when she was awake and reading witches' magazines in her flat. She knew he was a werewolf. She knew he was too old for her. She knew that he was poor, too. But what did any of that matter? Snape brewed him a Wolfsbane Potion every full moon, so that wasn't as much of a barrier as Remus believed. And as far as age gaps went, theirs was not too much! She'd heard of much larger gaps, and from the muggle world too! And she earned enough gold with her Auror job for the two of them, did she not?
It would be two years before he'd finally accept her love. It would be a few months before he'd agree to marry her. They were in a war, and who knew when their dying breath would be? It was better to have loved, violently and passionately, in times like these, than to never love at all.
He would always be reluctant without her. He would have waited forever, for that perfect moment that never came.
At least she saw him. Saw him on their wedding night, saw him during her pregnancy when he came back apologizing, and saw him when their son was born. She saw him in their son, and he saw her in their son as well. She supposed that was why they called their offspring "theirs."
He was the reason she didn't name their son after stars. Who needed the stars when she had right here, right now? The Black family was dying, almost gone. But their family was only beginning to grow in the world.
They weren't as alone as Remus feared. The Weasleys supported them, and little Harry Potter did, too. Her mother eventually came around to the idea, too. And that was when their world, her world, began to see him for who he truly was.
She saw him one last time, before the battle. She saw him before she heard that he was battling Antonin Dolohov and she fought Bellatrix Lestrange. He was on her mind in those moments. She thought of her mother, Molly Weasley, Remus, her little Teddy, and the people she'd gone into the Auror office to protect.
With her dying breath, she saw him and fought to stay alive. Little Teddy needed someone to look after him. Even if she had others who would, how could she let the cycle repeat, how could she let there be more war orphans and more families lost forever?
Fate does not listen to those who try to defy, however. And as Nymphadora Tonks released her last breath, there was one phrase on her lips, as she saw him.
"Wotcher, Remus."