A brief conversation between Severus Snape and Remus Lupin, regarding one Nymphadora Tonks. OotP time frame.


It isn't much, but Snape notices. Where before there was a certain tension between them –a hesitancy to appear too friendly, a danger of seeming too professional and detached, a nervousness when sitting near each other or laughing at the other's jokes– now there is none. They talk and move around each other as easily as any of the chummy group lounging around the Black dining room table. There are several possible reasons for the change, but only one probable.

So, when the meeting ends and the company files out through the door, Snape lingers and approaches Remus Lupin, who is the last to leave just after Sirius and Tonks.

"Lupin," he says, arresting the other man's attention. "I wonder if I might have a brief word with you?" He says it innocently enough, but their past speaks for itself. Remus closes the door and waits.

"Have you slept with her?"

Remus's face hardens, his mouth drawing in to a tight line. Still, it's in a light tone that he says "I don't believe that's any of your business, Severus."

"No, certainly not," Snape continues smoothly. "I merely thought I might offer you the benefit of my acquaintance with her. Seven years, you know. One can discern a lot."

As Snape drifts to the other side of the table, so that they're facing each other across it, Remus looks sideways at the floor, as though unwilling to acknowledge his words more than absolutely necessary.

"Very sociable girl, Nymphadora. From the very beginning she seemed to make friends with everyone. It didn't earn her any house points for good behavior in the classroom, but I suppose the occasional detention for talking out of turn was worth it to her. You can see even now that she has a certain... charm. It was very helpful to her when trying to become an Auror. Would you believe she even introduced herself to Horace Slughorn? Quite ambitious and resourceful, when she wants something.

"Still, it seems like only last week she completed her final year at Hogwarts. Despite her accomplishments, she is quite young. How very foolish we can be in our youth, don't you agree? How little we understand about the ways the world operates. Of course, you knew early on what your life would be like. But young Miss Tonks has been quite sheltered. I wonder if she's ever been in a situation in which she didn't have a handful of friends and supporters near her.

"No, she can't possibly understand what your life is like. Oh, she comprehends the facts, no doubt. She can see, I'm sure, the difficulties you face. But she cannot truly understand. So you see, I only ask if your relationship has... advanced, because if it has, it appears she'll soon know firsthand the trials a werewolf faces. It won't take long for her friends to realize what you are, and then they'll cease to call. She'll probably be confused at first, but she's clever enough to catch on.

"Don't let it worry you, though. She is, like most of her house, unfailingly faithful and devoted. I've no doubt she'll still love you. But she will come, in time, to resent you for the world you'll have brought her into."

Remus stands staunchly, now gazing at the grain in the table, pretending to ignore the heat in his face.

Snape, smiling slightly and giving a single nod as he moves toward the door, adds, "I thought you would want to be aware." Then he steps into the narrow hall, beyond which Tonks' laughter can be heard over Molly's distracted reprimands and Mad-Eye's half-hearted growling.