Title: Inter-House Unity (It's Just a Friendly Game of Quidditch)
Author: gijane7702
Format: Fic
Word Count: 2038
Rating: PG/PG13
Warnings: humorous fluff, with a side of angst; opens with a mention of sex and some foreplay; a few curse words
Summary: A game of Quidditch is played to lighten a sombre day.

Disclaimer: Any recognised characters are not mine. I wish they were. I have bills to pay.

Author's Notes: I didn't kill anyone major; I wanted a somewhat happy piece. But there is character death implied.

Had to have a bit of House rivalry, since we now know Tonks' House.

This is the first Quidditch sequence I've written.

Thanks to misselisha for her beta. For nattieb…who wanted some R/T and was there every step of the way

"I can't believe it's actually over."

Nymphadora Tonks smiled into Remus Lupin's chest and hugged him closer. The poor man had been repeating the same phrase all night long.

Not that Tonks blamed him: the Final Battle was over. Voldemort was destroyed.

The war that Remus had been fighting for over twenty years was finished.

He had seen so much horror, lost so many friends, lived under its shadow… And now it was over. Tonks knew he was shell-shocked. She was too, but Remus more so since he had been fighting so much longer than she had.

They both had been on the front line, but amazingly, neither had any major injuries. Tonks had wanted to stay when the battle had ended, but an injured, yet still in charge, Minister Scrimgeour had ordered her and Remus off the battlefield (formally known as Main Street, Hogsmeade). They were to go home, where they would await a Ministry clerk to take their statements. Minerva McGonagall had then opened the gates of Hogwarts, which Voldemort had never reached, and taken them in.

Which is where they were now, snuggled up in bed in a Hogwarts' guestroom located near the Teachers' Wing. Remus had directed her, still protesting, up to the castle and into their guestroom. They had showered, and then made love.

Then Remus proposed.

Of course, she accepted.

Tonks smiled to herself, and then once again admired her engagement ring, which was sparkling in the early morning sun peeking through a small crack in the draperies.

"It's a family heirloom," he had told her. "Lupin brides have worn it for centuries."

Tonks had made a mental note to cast a Permanent Sticking Charm on it, fixating it to her finger.

"Do you like your ring?" Remus' hoarse question jolted her into the present.

"I adore my ring!" Tonks slid until she was properly on top of him, and then asked, "Have I thanked you properly for it yet?"

Remus grinned up at her. "There's no need to thank me…" He trailed off as her hand reached a certain spot. "You naughty, naught—"

They both started as the bedroom door burst open.

Tonks instinctively tightened her hand, causing Remus to yelp in pain.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled, releasing him, the same time that Harry Potter burst out with, "I want to play Quidditch!"

"Oh my God! Harry!" Tonks shrieked, sliding of Remus and yanking the covers to her chin.

"Hey…were you two going to…" Harry trailed off at the darken look of pain Remus shot him. "Sorry! Er…I'd see Madam Pomfrey about that."

"Out!" Remus ordered, wincing.

"What'd he say?" Tonks groaned at the sound of Ron Weasley's voice from the corridor.

"Not much," Harry turned to tell him. "I interrupted him and Tonks."

"Nice." Remus snorted at the impressed tone in Ron's voice. Tonks burrowed herself under the blankets in embarrassment.

"Harry!"

His name was amplified, since both Remus and Hermione Granger had yelled it.

"Out!" Remus ordered again.

"See the nurse," Harry said cheekily as he slammed the door closed.

From the corridor, they could hear Hermione chastising him as they walked away.

"Give it to him good, Hermione," Remus muttered.

"Oh…my…God," Tonks groaned. "Are you okay?"

"You didn't do too much damage…I think."

"I love you!" It came out muffled since she was still hiding.

Remus chuckled. "I love you too. Come out of your den, my little Hufflepuff."

Tonks giggled as she un-burrowed herself. "Did I hear correctly? Harry wants to play…Quidditch?"

"It's his way of mourning," he told her kissing her forehead as she re-cuddled up to him. "He's in denial. It'll hit him later."

"Poor kid," Tonks sympathized. "But what a great idea! Let's go play! I'm totally energized this morning!"

"I'm not," Remus reminded her, shifting uncomfortably.

"You can sit this game out, sweetheart," she cooed. "I don't think Harry'd mind."

Tonks smirked at the look Remus gave her.

Forty-five minutes later found them walking hand in hand into the Great Hall.

Tonks had insisted on personally making sure that Remus was not too gravely injured.

From the grin that lit up Harry's face when he spotted them, she knew that Harry knew that as well.

"Nice of you to come to breakfast…finally," he told them as Remus sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Take a seat, Tonks."

"Ah…can I sit here?"

"Why not?" Ginny inquired, but she was grinning. Tonks knew that Harry had informed her of what had occurred earlier.

"I'm not a Gryffindor."

"Doesn't matter," Harry told her. "Sit. You've earned it. I saw a spectacular display of Inter-House unity this morning."

Several things occurred at once: Tonks nearly missed the bench as she took her seat, Ginny caught her, Remus choked on his eggs, Ron spit out his orange juice, and Hermione began to giggle.

Harry just grinned broadly.

"Inter-House unity, eh?" Ginny asked Tonks, who ignored her, instead taking a muffin from one of the plates. "Come on!"

Tonks shook her head negatively, then said, "You're mother—"

"I'm all for any House unity. Had a bit of Inner-House unity myself last night," Ginny told her.

Harry went pale and Ron turned to him with a murderous look on his face.

"Ron," Hermione said quietly, laying a restricting hand on his arm, but he shook her off.

Remus groaned.

"I just fought for my life!" Harry said defensively.

At the same time, Ginny exclaimed, "Come off it, Ron!"

"I love your sister!" Harry continued.

"I love him too!"

Ron stopped glowering. "All right then." And he continued with his breakfast.

"Shall we play some Quidditch then, now that we all love one another?" Tonks asked, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement.

Tonks smirked as she watched Remus stalk off, following Hermione up into the spectators' stands.

"Be careful, sweetheart," she called to his back, earning laughs from Harry, Ron, and Ginny. "I do want children! Oh!" she exclaimed as he turned around and flashed her a hand gesture that sent Harry and Ron into whoops of laughter.

"Professor Lupin, how naughty!" Ginny called between laughs. "I see the Marauder now."

Remus turned and bowed to her. Hermione was trying her hardest not to laugh aloud.

"How are we going to play this? Do we have enough people?" Tonks, shifting into Auror mode, began to ask. "Do we even have a referee? A commentator?"

"Luna's on her way down. She'll run commentary," Harry told her. "And I believe word has already spread there's going to be a match." He pointed into the distance.

Sure enough, there were students pouring out of the castle, all heading down towards the pitch. "I think we can wrangle up two teams from the remaining students," Ron said. "And I know a few of my brothers are around."

"And I'll referee for you."

They all spun around to see Professor McGonagall standing there, holding her broom.

"Awesome!" Harry and Ron breathed at the same time.

They were rewarded with a very rare smile.

"Now…how is this game being set up? By House?" Tonks, now in full mode, continued. "No…it can't be. So far, we have three Gryffindor and one Hufflepuff players and a Ravenclaw commentator. And the Headmistress refereeing," she added cheekily, biting her lip at the scowl that McGonagall shot her.

"What's taking so long?" Remus yelled from the stands. "I want to see a Quidditch match."

"What's gotten into him this morning," McGonagall murmured. "He's awfully…chipper."

Tonks closed her eyes. She knew what was coming.

"Tonks did!" Harry squealed gleefully. "Actually…he…er, never mind."

She smirked. Harry had remembered at just the last second who he was addressing.

McGonagall arched an eyebrow at him, then at her. "Interesting." Tonks blushed, knowing she would hear more about it later. "Ah, here we are…some more players."

"Charlie!" Ginny yelled, launching herself at her brother.

"Who are we?" Fred Weasley demanded, referring to himself and George. "Total strangers?"

Ginny ignored him. "You just got here? This morning?" she asked Charlie.

"Yeah…seems I missed all the fun," he told her. "Harry, how are you?"

"I've been better," Harry clipped out.

Tonks arched an eyebrow. It was the first negative emotion they had seen from Harry. Ginny quietly took his hand.

"Yeah, I can imagine! You'll be all right, mate. Nymph!" Charlie exclaimed, grinning as his eyes landed on her. "Are you playing? Most excellent! Where's Remus?"

"In the stands," Tonks told him. "He had a bit of a…er, accident this morning." Harry opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "I'll tell you later, Charlie. Oh, Fleur, are you playing?"

"You need another Keeper, non?"

"Excellent!" Harry's eyes were sparkling with excitement.

Soon, they had two teams set up. Harry's team had him playing Seeker, Ron playing Keeper, Ginny, Zacharias Smith, and Padma Patil as Chasers, and Fred and George playing Beaters.

Tonks' team consisted of her and Ernie MacMillian playing Beaters, Fleur as Keeper, Jonathan Cadwaller, Michael Corner, and Charlie as Chasers, and Viktor Krum, who had originally come calling at the school looking for Professor McGonagall, playing Seeker.

"Inter-House unity," Harry murmured quietly to Tonks as McGonagall released the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch, and then tossed up the Quaffle.

"You're a dead man, Potter!" she hissed at him.

"Ooohh…I'm scared of you after Voldemort!" Harry taunted as he flew away.

"You have to sleep sometime!" she yelled back, then whacked a Bludger at him, grinning as he rolled to avoid it. "Oi!" she shrieked as Ginny zoomed in front of her. "Not nice!"

"Just protecting Harry," Ginny grinned back.

"Foul!" Remus hollered from the stands. Hermione was laughing.

"Foul!" called Professor McGonagall.

"And he's just protecting me," Tonks said sweetly as Ginny scowled.

"Michael Corner takes the foul," Luna's voice musically commentated. Tonks could hear Professor Flitwick whispering the players' names to her. "He puts it away easily and Team Tonks is in the lead, 10-0."

Tonks smirked at Harry, who cursed.

Instead of Seeking the Snitch, he began to mark her. Tonks whacked Bludgers at him whenever possible, but couldn't shake Harry.

"Isn't marking illegal?" she yelled at McGonagall as she zoomed by, Harry close on her tail.

"Harry!" Ginny shrieked, pointing.

He whipped around to see Krum diving. Tonks cheered as Harry shot after him. "Yes!" she yelled.

"George Weasley sets a Bludger at Viktor Krum, veering him off course," Luna sang out. "And the Snitch flutters off again."

"Quit marking Tonks, Harry, and play!" Ginny yelled at him.

Tonks chortled with glee as she zoomed off to the other end of the pitch to confer with her co-Beater, Ernie. "Let's show Harry what two Hufflepuffs can do."

Ernie grinned.

"I thought you said marking was illegal!" Harry yelled as she came up beside him. Tonks smiled as Ernie joined them. "Hey!"

"Payback's a bitch, Potter," she told him.

Ernie laughed. "People think that Hufflepuffs are duffers…guess again."

Harry cursed at both of them, and then went still. Tonks was about to say something to him, but Harry dove suddenly.

"Krum!" she shrieked, knowing Harry had spotted the Snitch.

However, Viktor was already there. He and Harry were neck and neck, chasing the tiny Snitch.

"Yes!" Harry yelled moments later. In his hand, the Snitch fought to get away.

"No!" yelled Tonks.

Harry landed. Ginny immediately tackled him and began to peppered kisses all over his face.

Tonks landed a few metres away, glaring at him.

Harry shook Ginny off, and then walked over to her. "Thanks," he said in a low voice.

"Viktor missed it by centimetres," she told him.

"I know. Thanks for giving me a real game and not pitying me and letting me win. Especially after I was taking the mickey out of you and Remus all morning."

Tonks nodded. "Anytime, Harry."

They smiled at Remus as he approached them. "Take care of him for me, will you," Harry said. "I know you will. Loyalty's the best Hufflepuff trait there is."

"Loyalty can be a Gryffindor trait as well," she told him quietly.

"Naw…we're too pigheaded."

Tonks laughed. "Don't I know it!"

"Are you never going to let me forget?!" Remus groaned, knowing exactly what she meant.

"NO!" everyone shouted at him.

FIN