Confines of a Dieing Fire
Authors Note: Sorry about the substandard title. I really couldn't think of anything better. So I was in the mood for something bittersweet, and Remus/Tonks has been what I have been writing lately, so here it is. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Remus and Nymphadora are not mine. I just enjoy using their characterizations in my twisted plots.
Dedication: To cold, rainy nights that smell like snow.
Nymphadora Tonks sat on her slightly worn couch, huddled under a warm blanket, staring deep into the dieing embers of a fire.
Today was Christmas Day. A day to be spent with family and friends, celebrating life and happiness.
She was spending it sitting in her dreary flat, sipping some cold apple cider and listening to monotonous Christmas carols on the wireless.
She sighed. It wasn't worth it. One man wasn't worth her sitting here on her slightly worn couch, having a pity party with some dieing embers. She almost got off the couch when she asked herself what she was going to do. Where could she go? Her parents were in the Swiss Alps, enjoying a week-long skiing vacation, of which she chose not to go on to avoid a week of, "Nymphadora, now really!" from her mother over something stupid she did. She could go to the Weasley's, but that would mean being in the same room as Remus Lupin, the one man who single-handedly broke her heart and made her feel miserable.
She leaned back into the couch. No, it was much better to sit here, warm, than risk having her heart smashed to even smaller bits.
Tonks was almost half asleep when a sudden knocking on her door awoke her from her stupor. She glanced at her clock. It was one in the morning. Who ever was calling certainly was insane, or not aware of the time.
Nymphadora slipped off her blanket, and walked over to her door. Not bothering to look through the eye peep, she unlocked the door and opened it. "Remus?" She asked, shocked, to find the haggard man at her door at one in the morning. "What are you doing out there?"
He looked at her, a slight smile on his face. "You know, I really don't quite know."
"Well, do you want to come in?" She asked, turning around and waving her hand so a few candles lit. "I have some cider I can heat up…"
"No, I, um, don't think that's necessary. I suppose I came to give you this." He held out a small, imperfectly wrapped box. "Seeing as its Christmas and all, I thought you might like it." He ran a hand trough his hair as she took the box.
"Thank you Remus—"
"No, um, it's alright. I suppose I should be going." And before she could thank him anymore, he apparated away.
She shut the door, and walked over to her couch, placing the box beside her. She looked at the brown packaging paper, secured with a green ribbon, tightly tied around the box. Picking it up, she shook it a little, and upon hearing a tiny rustle in the box, she sat it in her lap.
Tonks gently pulled at the ribbon, until it gave way, until only some shoddy brown paper was between her and a gift from the one man she could ever really love. She gently ran her nail along the seam of the paper, where he had Spell-o taped it, and slipped the box out of its brown confines.
She opened the box, and found a tiny golden wolf trinket on a gold chain. "Oh, Remus…" She whispered, as she found the note underneath it.
I heard that your patronus had changed.
--RJL
She smiled. He cared. And that's all that matters.
Fin