Tonks is unwise and watches horror movies late, late into the night. Who will save her from her wild imagination? Concocted half from my own intolerance of certain flicks, half from my runaway fantasies. Happy evil bunnies.
"But… though it may be conquered now… who knows when it will be back?" The screen flickered to a little girl in her bed, asleep. There was a growl, and she awoke screaming. The last image showed was a bloody outline of her body on the My Little Pony sheets before the screen went black and the credits started rolling.
Tonks clicked the remote, and the DVD popped out of the player. She remained rigid on the couch, legs crossed beneath her, not daring to breathe. The slightest sound made her heart leap in her chest.
Sliding her eyes over to look at her surroundings, she noticed the basement door was opened a crack. Omigod, omigod, omigod…
Chill. Just, chill. It was only a movie. You are an auror. You have faced much more dangerous things than the Malice. Relax, relax… animation, that's all…
It did no good. The slightest movement from above or below in the house made her chest squeeze and her blood pump.
"I'm apparently stuck on this couch for the night." She thought to herself, inwardly cursing her immense stupidity. Her intolerances for slashers and horrors were silly, yet they existed. And, though time had gone by, they had not been whittled.
She remembered being a little girl visiting her muggle cousins on her father's side. The only witch in the middle of about fifteen muggles was a bit daunting, but her mother said as long as she kept her identity discreet, she could play with the big kids as well as the two or three girls her age. Some of the older boys, Kurtis, Malachy and Melvin invited her, Christine and a handful of other little ones into the basement nook to watch 'grown-up movies'. Tonks had gone down with them, curious, and watched the entire thing. The movie was an R-rated horror film, and though the animation had been of the highly questionable seventies variety, her heart had pounded and her blood rushed; she jumped and screamed, but could not peel her eyes away from the screen. When it was finished, Malachy flicked off the lights and locked the door as the other boys hid and made the noises that the monster made. She had screamed and cried with the rest of them, until her aunt Laureline found them and whipped the threesome viciously.
Tonks did not like to think of this event as scarring, but truthfully, that's what it was. That one movie, and the plot devised by her cousins had opened a door of fear that could not be closed. And even when she tried to be a big girl and watch The Malice at night in Grimmuald, she could not do it. Stupid of her, really, that she brought a telly to the ancient house. Even if it was an icebreaker, watching the wizards study it in awe.
Tentatively, she leaned back onto the pillows and closed her eyes. No use going upstairs; she'd be dead by heart attack from the pipes creaking by the time her foot hit the third step. A slight bang in the windows from the wind made her eyes snap back open, and she sighed, inwardly crying and pleading for her mother.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack from outside. She froze, not daring to breathe. Footsteps on the stoop, and a creak of the front door. Acting instinctively, she ducked down behind the couch, hiding. Who could it be? Everyone who stays here is here, and Arthur is going to Kingsley's after duty…Her spine crawled when she couldn't find an answer.
She peered over the edge of the couch, spotting a dark figure in the hallway. It turned, pausing when it faced the living room, and took 5 steps until it was in the room. She distinctly saw the outline of a skeletal hand, protruding towards her…
Completely losing it, she screamed at the top of her lungs, falling backwards off the couch and at the thing's feet.
She heard a voice, and it was not menacing at all.
"Dora? What… is that you???" She gasped, half with relief and half with shock.
"Remus Lupin! Oh gods, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you…" She climbed up his leg and steadied herself using his body. She stared up at him, and despite feeling foolish, she threw her arms around him and clung to his torso like she was never letting go.
"Oh, Remmy, I need your help." He cocked his head slightly.
"Um, with what?" He sounded cautious; praps Charlie had given him a few stories of her bad side. She shook her head, though he hadn't said anything.
"I need to… to be with you tonight. Oh no, not like that," she said hurriedly as he began to extricate himself. "I… um…" She explained her reasons, blushing furiously all the while.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Dora, how do I know this isn't just a big scheme to get in my pants?" She laughed weakly.
"Trust me, Rem, it isn't. I just broke up with Maxy a few days ago, and… well, I'm not ready to be back in a relationship yet." Lies, she thought, all lies. Because she did want to be in his pants tonight; in the worst way she did. But she couldn't.
She couldn't sleep in her own bed that night, and she would feel silly asking anyone else to camp out with them. Remus made her feel calm, like it didn't matter if she made an arse of herself in front of him. She couldn't risk humping his leg tonight, lest he kick her out.
"Please, Rem? You're my last chance. Pretty please???" He sighed deeply.
"C'mon, Tonks." He allowed her to follow him upstairs, down the hall, and into his bedroom. He shut the door softly and lit his wand, holding it above his head. She surveyed the scene of his room, surprised at how tidy it was. Peering into the slightly opened closet, she found that each of his tattered shirts was hung neatly next to each other, coordinated by colour. She turned to him with an eyebrow arched in skepticism.
"Rem, are you gay?" He glanced over his shoulder at her, shrugging off his jacket. He saw where she was looking and gave a little laugh.
"No, Dora. I'm just a man who likes his things to be in order and more spare time on his hands than he needs." She nodded, her gaze directed towards the bed.
It was huge, to be frank. A queen sized, down-covered wrought-iron monstrosity, crowded with everything you can imagine. Folders of paperwork, robes, books, potion making ingredients, a lint roller, and a banana were all she could see at the moment. Only a tiny portion was cleared on the right side of the bed, presumably where he slept.
Grinning, she hopped onto the bed, dumping everything onto the floor. He whirled, horror on his face, as she snuggled under the white sheets of the now cleared bed.
"T-Tonks! Those were my things, they were all in order…!" He stuttered, frozen to the spot. She giggled.
"Lighten up. You can put it back later. But I need a place to sleep tonight, and it's not going to be on top of your shit." She yanked a pocket dictionary out from under her pillow and chucked it at him. He caught it deftly and rolled his eyes.
"Don't look." He fished a pair of pyjama pants from the armoire and turned around. Tonks pretended to shut her eyes, but looked anyway. What an ass he has, she thought indulgently. You would never know, from the way he dresses, but that man had a bod.
He turned to her, shirtless on top and plaid on the bottom, and she immediately spread herself to take up the whole bed. He stood with his arms crossed before she wiggled over just enough so he could slide in beside her. She latched onto his arm as he murmured Nox. The fear was almost gone, but it still crept up slightly. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, holding his bicep tighter.
"Goodnight, Dora." He said, twisting over so his back was to her. He scooted over so there was a good foot of mattress separating them, even if he was on the edge of the bed.
She closed her eyes slowly, ears staying wide open. Every little noise sounded like it was on stereo, many times louder than it actually was. There was a bang in the hallway, and she nearly leapt out of her skin.
"Remus?" she whispered, frozen.
"Yes Tonks?" he mumbled sleepily. He flipped over to face her, blinking blearily at her frightened face {alliteration skillz right there, folks}.
"What was that?" He frowned and listened carefully. He heard the bathroom door from the floor below slam shut again. She quivered.
"Arthur probably let the window open again. It's just the wind, Tonks." She wrapped an arm around him, squirming closer.
"It sounds much scarier." She snuggled in close to his chest, breathing the scent of him. He stiffened.
"Dora…" He sighed a few times. "This isn't right. I'm a man, and you're a woman, who happens to be much younger than me… it's just not… appropriate."
She twisted a bit so she could look up at his face. "What isn't appropriate about it, Rem? I'm fuckin' terrified. You may not understand this because you're not afraid of anything, but every noise, to me, seems like a creature of the night coming to eat my brains. It's an irrational fear I've harbored for much too long." He frowned.
"Tonks. You may be afraid, but I know how you feel about me. Deny it all you want, but the implications you make about me are clear. I don't want to make you guilty of adultery by 'accidentally' raping me tonight." His voice was heavy with sarcasm as he escaped her grip. She put on the most scared look she could.
"Rem, seriously. This is not about me getting some with you tonight. You're right, I don't deny it, I would love it, but I honestly need to cling to someone for my life. Elsewise, I'd be in the looney bin by the morning." She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that he would see her side and let her stay. He sighed in submission, wrapping his arms around her.
"You're such a piece of work, Dora." She nodded into his chest, feeling a bit safer. It didn't matter who it was, but if someone held her when she was scared, she always felt a bit better.
Wordlessly, he leaned down a bit and kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Goodnight, Nymphadora." She blushed, and then easily drifted to sleep in his arms.
Hmmm. I do believe this story is crying out for a second chapter, do you think? It might be a bit detached from the original plotline, but yet, it could definitely work… thoughts on this? Review, plz.
My review… WRITE MORE IN THE FUCKING STORY … please. Pretty please . Now, bitch please