Reconnecting by Luvscharlie
"I still can't believe Dumbledore sent me out here to the middle of nowhere in the freezing snow with a tosser like you." Tonks turned to him and glared.
"I still can't believe I was stupid enough to let you have the map. Where the fuck are we?"
Pointing to a spot, Tonks handed him the map. "They didn't exactly teach Muggle map reading at the Auror Academy, Head Boy."
"Been a while since you called me that."
Tonks snorted at his comment. "Hard to call you much of anything after you went and took off to Egypt, innit?"
"You know, I didn't pick you as my partner either," Bill said. "And, for your information, I'm no happier about it than you are. Dumbledore might have paired me with that cute little French bird. She might at least be better company."
"She would be, you know, if you like French bitches clinging to you like a bad case of Dragon Pox." With a roll of her eyes, she crossed her arms in disgust. "I'm fucking freezing here, Weasley."
"You're shivering," Bill said, casting a Warming Charm in her direction. She sunk knees deep in the snow.
"That was just brilliant. Now I'm freezing and soaked."
Flustered, he tried to tuck the map beneath his arm and perform a drying spell, but she held out a hand to ward him off. "At this rate, you'll turn me into a pumpkin, and Charlie's told me that story. I'm not interested."
He could feel himself blush. Anybody who ever trusted his little brother as a secret keeper would be in a sorry state; Charlie Weasley had a big mouth. "You might give me a bit of a break here. I've been in Egypt for the past few years and we don't exactly get a lot of snow there."
"Just read the bloody map, Bill, so we can find out where this alleged Death Eater activity is and report back."
He turned the map over in his hand. Nothing moved; no dots shifted from one area to the other. He scratched his chin in concentration. How did Muggles read these flat things?
As if invading his mind, Tonks said, "You can't read it either, can you? Oh, that's just wonderful. We're out in the middle of nowhere, with strict instructions not to use our wands, and neither of us can read this stupid map."
"Of course I can read it. I just need some time to study it properly. We might as well make camp for the night. It's not likely anybody will find us out here." Doing his best to reign in his temper, Bill pulled the rucksack from his back and said a silent thank you for self-erecting tents. He didn't fancy trying to erect a regular Muggle tent in the middle of the snowy forest. He unrolled the tent and it immediately sprang to life.
Flipping back the tent flap, he looked over his shoulder at her. "Are you coming?" The inside of the tent was roomy, but cold, and they were forbidden to use their wands to start a fire, even though the tent came equipped with a built in fireplace. Wizards, Bill thought, knew how to live... even temporarily. However, that fireplace was going to do him little good if he couldn't light a fire in it. He pulled out his wand and rolled it between his fingers. Perhaps, just this one…
"Oh, for Merlin's sake. You don't know how to light it, do you?"
"Oh, and I suppose you do?"
"Well, Head Boy, it just so happens that my Granny Tonks was smart enough to teach me a thing or two about how to survive without having to rely upon the use of magic."
"Here we go," Bill muttered. "I wondered when there was going to be a Granny Tonks story."
"Don't you dare say anything about my Granny. She was a great woman." Tonks struck a match that she retrieved from her pocket and soon the fire crackled and popped, heating the tent rapidly.
"Pretty handy," Bill said as he looked skyward. "My apologies, Granny Tonks." He pulled sandwiches that his mother had packed from the rucksack. "Turkey or corned beef?" he asked.
"Turkey would seem best suited to you, Weasley." The corner of her mouth twitched and her eyes twinkled with mischief, but her face registered what he thought might be a bit of regret. "I was a right bitch to you out there, eh?"
He tossed over the turkey sandwich and a bottle of Butterbeer. "I believe I'll have the corned beef myself… you big turkey." He met her smile with one of his own, an attempt at calling a truce. "Well, it was cold, and you never did much care for the cold. Can't say I'm wild about it myself. It's nights like this that I miss Egypt."
He could have kicked himself for saying that. Egypt was a sore subject. Egypt was what had ended their relationship years ago. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
She waved away the apology. "'s all water under the bridge. I guess things happen for a reason. I mean, if you'd stayed, I guess we'd have..." Her voice trailed off.
"Yeah, I guess we would have." She didn't need to finish the statement. He knew what she had been going to say and she was right. They would have married and probably had given his mother that grandbaby her arms were itching to hold by now. "I didn't mean what I said earlier about wishing Dumbledore had paired me with the French girl. I just, well, you know, I mean I—"
"Knew it would be awkward. Yeah, I know." She drained her Butterbeer and turned an inquiring gaze his way. "Is this all we have? Isn't there something in that rucksack to warm me up, seeing as how some idiot tried to bury me in the snow out there?"
Bill chuckled. "Keep it up, big mouth, and I might still make arrangements for you to sleep out in the snow tonight." He grinned at her as he pulled out a bottle of Ogden's Finest and looked around. "No glasses. We'll have to share." He pulled the cork free with his teeth and took a swig.
"Oi, whatever happened to ladies first?"
He made quite the show of looking around.
"What are you looking for, you pillock?"
"Why a lady, of course," he said with a wink, taking another long swig from the bottle.
"I'll show you a lady in a minute. Gimme that." She couldn't stop herself from giggling and she slid closer to the fire, closer to Bill, so that they could pass the bottle back and forth.
Halfway through the bottle, the liquid refilled to the top. "An endless bottle. Now that's my kind of magic." Tonks nodded her head in agreement as the warmth from the Firewhisky lulled her to contentment.
They sat in silence for a while, the only sound the hooting of an owl, as they passed the bottle back and forth. Bill spoke first. "So, I've noticed the werewolf staring at your tits."
"First, the werewolf has a name. Second, of course he has. These are some quality tits. Your little brother hasn't held a single conversation with me while looking at my eyes since I sprouted these jewels in fifth year."
Bill chuckled. "Not to disparage the quality of your tits, fine tits that they are and all, but that's not much of a compliment. Charlie hasn't held a conversation looking a woman in the eye since he discovered they had tits in fifth year." He took a swig. "No offense, of course."
"None taken. I've been best friends with your brother far too long to be offended by that." Passing him the bottle she stretched her toes toward the fire. "So, do you miss Egypt?"
"Sometimes," he said. "But, I'm needed here right now. Things are going to get worse before they get better, I'm afraid."
"Yeah, I suspect they are."
"But that's not really what you wanted to ask me, is it? Come on, Tonks, you were always pants at hiding stuff from me. What is it?"
She seemed to ponder the question for a moment, with the firelight dancing upon her skin. He'd begun to think she wasn't going to answer, when her soft reply reached his ears. "Me. Did you miss me, Bill?"
"I—"
"Wait." Holding up her hand, she started to rise, but he caught her wrist. "I changed my mind. I don't want you to answer that."
"Yeah, I missed you." His thumb stroked over the back of her wrist, and she took up her seat beside him once more. "I almost came back, you know?"
"Oh. No, I didn't know that."
"When you and Charlie finished Hogwarts, I was so homesick. I wanted to come back, maybe pick up where we left off, but…"
"But what?"
"It seemed a bit unfair. I heard you had been accepted into the Auror Program, and well, I knew how much that meant to you. I thought it best if I just stayed where I was."
She grew silent as they continued to pass the bottle back and forth. He watched her mouth open several times as though she might speak, but each time she simply closed it again without uttering a sound.
"Maybe we should get some sleep." Bill stood up and offered her a hand. She took it, allowing him to pull her up. She staggered in her intoxicated state, and Bill pulled her in close to steady her. "You okay?"
Entwining her arms around his neck, she kissed him, her lips soft upon his own. Even after all this time, she tasted just as he remembered, and as he returned the kiss, all of those wasted years seemed to slip away. "I'm glad you came home," she whispered.
Tilting her chin up to him, he stroked her face lovingly. "I only wish I'd done it sooner. By the way, do you still have the knickers with those dancing hippos on them? They were always a favourite of mine."
She giggled and kissed him again.
Fin.
A/N: Originally written for a friend's birthday on Live Journal.