Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing in the world of Harry Potter. The characters and setting in this story belong to none other than the magnificent JK Rowling.

AN: I was looking through some old notebooks for something and discovered this story buried in other scrapped chapters and scenes that I never typed up. Those who have followed my stories for any length of time probably know that romance isn't my strongest writing suit, and that's probably why I never bothered typing this up. But I hope you enjoy it, regardless of how corny it may seem at the end.

Power of Love

By Neurotica

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world."

— Minerva McGonagall Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament

Hogwarts looked different.

He'd always thought it looked majestic, beautiful. It's magic seemed to radiate from the very walls, filling a person's soul with a sense of belonging. He'd always felt comfortable and untouchable within the school's gates, but now all he felt was misery and loneliness. He'd never felt so alone in his life, not even when Lily and James were murdered; not even when Sirius had fallen through the veil.

He walked across the grounds – the grass seemed a little less green and crunchy than usual – in a set of black dress robes. These particular robes had only been worn on one other occasion. They had been new then, but that was fifteen years ago. Molly had been kind enough to patch up the holes made by doxies and she even tailored them to fit his thin frame – he'd lost a lot of weight since Lily and James' funeral.

He was quite thankful to Molly Weasley. She had enough on her mind with the attack of Fenrir Greyback on her oldest son Bill, and she still made time for him so he didn't look like a complete bum today. Of course, she had always made time for him, whether he had wanted her to or not. She was quite fussy, that Molly Weasley, but he appreciated it.

His thoughts on the Weasley matriarch ceased immediately when he saw the young woman sitting against a beech tree, overlooking the Hogwarts lake. Glancing at his beat up wristwatch, he realized there was still half an hour before the funeral would begin – plenty of time to talk to her. Since the night of the attack on Hogwarts, he'd been avoiding her again. He'd done well with it for three months, but his reasons for avoiding her had changed drastically since the night Dumbledore had been killed. Before that night, he just wanted to keep her safe and the only way he saw to do that was to push her as far from him as possible. After that night in the hospital wing, the night she had given him so much to think about… Well, he had just needed time away from her to sort out his thoughts.

He walked just beside the tree but hesitated before saying anything; she looked deep in thought and he didn't want to disrupt her.

"You can sit, you know," she said quietly and without looking at him.

He raised an eyebrow; he should have known he wouldn't be able to sneak up on an Auror. She scooted across the grass a bit to give him room to sit against the tree as well. He sat with a heavy sigh and looked over at her. Her appearance hadn't changed much in three days when he had last seen her – her hair was still that droopy mousy brow, her eyes clouded over in misery as she stared out at the lake with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked innocent and vulnerable, and he wanted nothing more that to pull her into his arms and never let go.

"Aren't you still avoiding me?" she asked, still not taking her eyes off the lake.

"No," he said hoarsely. There was no point in lying to her, to attempt to convince her that he hadn't been avoiding her; she always knew when he was lying.

"Good, because you're really bad at it," she replied.

He thought for one moment that she was teasing him, but her face was set and there was no trace of humor in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly and sincerely. "I just–"

"I don't want to hear it again, Remus," she said evenly, though he heard her voice break when she spoke his name. "I've already got all of your ridiculous excuses memorized, so there's no need to waste your breath by repeating yourself."

He sighed. "Nymphadora–"

"Do. not. call. me Nymphadora," she said through gritted teeth.

"Right, sorry," he said rather stiffly. "Tonks, then… If you would just hear me out this one time…"

"What's the point?" she exclaimed, finally turning to look at him. "You're too old – you're not even forty! You're too poor – who gives a damn? I make enough as an Auror to let both of us live comfortably. You're too dangerous – well, let me tell you something, Remus Lupin, I can be pretty damn dangerous myself!"

"I know," Remus said somberly. "I've tasted your cooking."

For a second, it looked as though she would laugh, but she just sighed and looked away again. "Do you think this is a joke?" she asked miserably.

He bit his lip, regretting his teasing immediately. "Tonks," he said, sliding closer to her and placing an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into the embrace, resting her head against his shoulder. Out of habit, he touched his lips to her forehead. The two remained in that position for long minutes, the only sound around them a sniffle she made ever twenty seconds or so.

"Why can't you understand?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"I do understand," he answered. "I've always understood…" She let out a disbelieving snort, burying her head further into his shoulder. "I've been selfish," he eventually admitted. Almost immediately, he felt her stiffen slightly in his arms; he held her tighter. "I've been a fool and I know that now."

She muttered something that sounded strangely like "thank you, Captain Obvious," before saying quite clearly, "Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"So what the hell is the problem?" she asked angrily, trying to pull away from him. He held her tighter still.

"You know what the problem is…"

"Those aren't problems, Remus; they're excuses, and lousy ones at that!" She sighed again, trying to control her temper. He always thought she was cutest when she lost her temper, even if it was a bit frightening some of the time. "You claim you don't want to hurt me and that you want to see me happy, but you're doing everything backwards! If you don't want to hurt me, then be with me, stop pushing me away. If you love me and don't want to hurt me, then stop being such a bloody idiot."

"Sounds easy enough," he said thoughtfully. She glared. "Tonks, I didn't come here to fight with you again. You were right all along, as was everybody else. I have been an idiot and I have taken a ridiculous stand on this. I still believe everything I've told you about why we shouldn't be together, but…" He sighed in hesitation. "I've realized life is far too short for this. I want to be with you, Nymphadora, starting right now." She looked up with shock written all over her face, not even a twitch at the sound of her hated first name. He smiled at the look. "I love you."

He waited for her to repeat the sentiment, but she seemed to be momentarily in shock. She tried to form words, but after a few minutes, she gave up and crushed her lips against his. He moaned against her mouth and deepened the kiss, turning a little to bring her closer to him. By the time their heated kiss had ended, she was straddling her lap and neither of them were sure when that had happened.

"You do realize," he said huskily, "that we're about to attend a funeral, don't you?"

She flashed him a grin that always made his insides melt. "I really don't think Dumbledore would mind," she said before teasing his lip with her tongue. "And I love you too, by the way."

They indulged themselves in each other for a bit longer before he noticed something different about her. "Your hair," he whispered, tugging on one of the bubblegum pink spikes.

She grinned. "I told you you have an effect on me."

He chuckled before looking around and realizing people were beginning to arrive on the grounds. "We should go," he said quietly, standing and giving her a hand up.

Together, hand-in-hand, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks crossed the Hogwarts grounds to say goodbye to Albus Dumbledore. Though it was a sad occasion and they knew several of the people they were looking at them oddly because of the smiles on their faces, neither was bothered as they took their seats beside Molly and Arthur Weasley, who both gave them a knowing look. After all, Dumbledore would have been happy knowing there was a little more love in the world.

AN: As I said, my apologies for any corniness that may have led to becoming physically ill. Beyond that, I hope you enjoyed. Please review!