Nymphadora Tonks was sat by the window in the living room of Grimmauld Place, watching and listening to the rain. She sat here most of the time during her visits to this place. She liked the rain, and she drew her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. Her hair was its customary bright bubblegum pink, and her eyes were a shocking shade of violet. She wore her favourite combination of ripped jeans and her Weird Sisters t-shirt. She wore a black cardigan to keep her warm as she sat by the window.
Remus Lupin was sat in a chair by the open-grate fire in the same room as Tonks. His features were lit up by the fire. His amber eyes reflected the fire in the grate. He ran his scarred hand through his brown hair, which was flecked with grey, and he let out a sigh. He was wearing a shabby overcoat, covering a pair of trousers and a jumper. Tonks looked over as Remus sighed.
"Remus…" she started to say, and then paused. "You're not as bad as you think you are, you know. Why won't you let me in? I can help…"
"Nymphadora…" he spoke up, and she cut him off.
"Don't call me Nymphadora. You know I hate it. It's Tonks." she corrected him, her bubblegum pink hair turning tomato red as frustration flared up inside her. Remus sighed again.
"Sorry, Tonks. I've told you many times, I'm too old, too poor, and too dangerous. Not just for you, for anyone." Remus told her, not looking up from the fire, his amber eyes still reflecting the flicker of the dying flames.
"But I don't care about that, Remus! I love you because you're you!" she told him, her voice full of emotion. She walked over to him and knelt by him. "I don't care that you think you're a monster, because you're not. You are a wonderful human being, Remus." With that last statement, she stood up and kissed his cheek. "I care about you, and I hate seeing you torture yourself this way."
"You don't understand, Tonks. I won't let you in because I know I can hurt you. I can't risk hurting you. I won't risk it. I could seriously hurt you, and I don't want to hurt anyone." Remus told her firmly. "I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I harmed you."
"I don't care, Remus! You won't hurt me! You've got the self-control, you just don't know that you have!" Tonks repeated herself, tears brimming in her violet eyes. "I love you, ok?"
"I know…" Remus didn't look up as he admitted that he knew of Tonks' love for him. He just continued to stare into the fire. Tonks sighed, and turned to leave the room, tears still in her eyes. She went upstairs, said a quick goodnight to Sirius, and went into the bedroom she slept in. She changed her clothes, then she went into the bathroom and cleaned her teeth. When she was satisfied, she went back into her bedroom, shut the door, and got into bed. She lay her head on the lumpy pillow, and cried herself to sleep, thinking - 'I'm sure it wouldn't kill Sirius to get some decent pillows'.
A/N: there is no way on this Earth that this fic is done yet.
Thank you to my best ever mate Brendan, who came up with the title for me - I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU, but you knew that, right? xx