Missed Opportunities

By: Sleeper3173

A/N: This is a two part short story that I dreamed up during the middle of the night that I quickly wrote down. This is my first story I have written since I left following an argument with another writer.

It is the story about how some missed opportunities can never be recovered. Please enjoy and don't forget to R and R.

Don't know if I need this considering I have it on my profile but… I do not own the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling has that honor.

Part One: Tonks

"I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother's?" Harry asked her. "I couldn't stand not knowing…" she had replied, her face a mask of anguish. "She'll look after him. Have you seen Remus?" Harry hesitated before answering. "He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds…" Harry started to say before she pushed him aside and rushed off to find her husband. 'Please let him be ok…' she thought desperately and she moved closer and closer to the heart of the conflict. Ducking a misaimed stunner, she began firing her own curses at the Death Eaters. She noted with a look of fear at the number of the fallen littering the ground from both sides and she speed up, praying for the best. As she started down the marble staircase to the entry hall, a green killing curse blew up the railing in front of her and she dropped behind the banister for cover and tried to still her heart as her life literally flashed before her eyes. Who would have thought that that actually happened? Then she froze when she realized something. All of the images of the last few years were not about Remus… they were about Harry. She closed her eyes when she realized why. When she had first met him during the time they escorted him from 4 Private Drive to Grimmauld Place, she had developed a crush on him that rapidly grew into what she knew was love… a love she had squashed down believing that she was too old for him at the time and vowed to wait till he was older… but by the time he got older… she had married Remus and had given birth to Teddy. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as more and more images of Harry flashed in front of her eyes. The first time they met. The first time they shared a hug. That brief chaste kiss they had shared when she had cornered him under some mistletoe at the Burrow… The fear for Remus' safety was quickly being overwhelmed by the fear that she had made the biggest mistake in her life… and considering her track record for mistakes, that was saying something. 'I never told him…' she thought in panic. 'I never told him… I need to find him and tell him before its too late.' She stood up, determined to find him, and her eyes opened in shook as a bright green curse slammed into her chest. It's funny. One would think that the Killing Curse would kill you instantly. It doesn't. But it was completely painless… 'I never told him I loved him…' she thought as her back hit the ground. 'I wonder how he felt about me…' With this last thought she stopped her struggle to keep her eyes open and she slipped into oblivion.

Part 2: Harry

Harry looked on with sorrow as the Weasley family gathered around the body of Fred. He felt that as close as he was them, this was a very personal moment… plus it would be the final acceptance that he was dead. Ginny moved slightly and the Harry's legs buckled when he saw the two bodies lying next to Fred's: Remus and Tonks. 'No…' he thought with horror. 'Not them too… no… no… no…' "NO!" he screamed out the last word and scrambled to his feet before fleeing the Great Hall. His feet moved automatically to some destination of their own choosing. Fred was dead. Lupin was dead. Tonks was dead. How many more had died because he hadn't given himself up in the very beginning? He felt sick even thinking about it. 'Why did you have to die? Why did you have to come tonight? Why didn't you stay at how like Lupin asked…' Harry's feet stopped and he was so surprised that he lost his balance and slammed into the wall were he slid to the floor. Why was he thinking about Tonks? Sure she was his friend, but why her over Lupin or even Fred? Struggling to his feet, he realized he was in the corridor that lead to the Headmaster's office… and that he still had the vial of Snape's memories still clutched in his hand. His face hardened as fresh tears slipped down his cheeks, blurring his vision slightly. He had to escape this nightmare… even whatever memory Snape left him had to be better than this… couldn't it? He resumed his hurried walk to the office, struggling to understand why Tonks kept coming to the front of his grief. 'Why?' he thought. 'Why do I keep thinking about you?' He had reached the gargoyle that guarded the hidden staircase to the office when it suddenly clicked. His feelings for Hermione were that of a brother to a sister. He had often thought that he had considered Tonks the same way. But he was wrong. It was actually closer to the same feelings he felt when he thought of Ginny or Cho… 'Oh sweet Merlin…' he thought with a new wave of depression. 'I've felt the same for her the entire time that I have known her… I was in love with Tonks and didn't even see it!' While the deepest depression Harry had ever felt threatened to overwhelm him, he rushed over to the gargoyle and shouted out the first thing that came to mind: "Dumbledore!" he was shocked at first when it moved aside for him, but he quickly rushed up the stairs. As his hand reached for the door handle, he had one final thought. 'Tonks, I'm sorry I realized to late my true feelings for you… I hope you can forgive me when we meet again… if we meet again.' He turned the handle and shoved open the door. 'I wonder if she felt the same…'

Fin

A/N: I had some real life inspiration for this one, much to my own pain. Let me tell you know, if you know someone who you love, or have confused feelings for, don't wait to talk to them. I made that mistake once… I missed the opportunity… and like most things in life, I never got it back. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

A/N 2: There is now a sequel to this story called Second Chances. Be sure to check it out!