I wasn't going to do this, but I thought I needed to. So... yeah. Enjoy.
Very much emotional, this - there's your warning.
Bright Side Of Death
The first words that spilled from the lips of the deceased Nymphadora Tonks weren't carefully planned, well-executed or eloquent. But the shock of being surrounded by perpetual darkness as she was left her somewhat closed off to clarity of mind.
"I think I'm dead."
Fortunately, there were other sources around to bring the necessary information to her, and as one spoke from the darkness, she found herself grinning as the onyx atmosphere faded to reveal a pale blue sky with perfect clouds.
"I think you're right."
From the receding shadows stepped the cheerful frame of Sirius Black, who promptly wrapped her in an embrace, grinning.
"I never expected you to be the next one!" he exclaimed cheerily, his smile fading slightly as he pulled away and saw her shock.
"What's wrong? I know it's a culture shock, but - "
"Where is he?" She asked of thin air, searching over his shoulder.
Sirius's face lit up with bewilderment.
"Where's who?"
Raising her eyebrows furtively, she cast him a glance.
"Severus. Is he somewhere around here?"
"Not that I know of - and I'd know," he responded lightly. "Why does that matter?"
Tonks's face collapsed with shock.
"Why is he still alive and I'm not?!"
Sirius's expression was now one of immense confusion.
"I really don't see why it matters, Nymphadora. All I know is that you're dead and Snape isn't. Now, I have to know - how have you been?"
Tonks shot him an incredulous look.
"Same old, you know… save the wizarding world, patrol the Hogwarts corridors, marry Severus, be back in time for dinner…"
"Do what with Severus?!" Sirius demanded incredulously, anger and shock flitting across his expression. "Please tell me I misheard that, Tonks…"
"Sorry, but you didn't. Now, I died from Voldemort's Avada Kedrava… but why did he only kill me? Surely if he found out that Snape was working to betray him, he'd have killed him too…?"
"Uh, Tonks?"
"But it's a matter of time, isn't it? Has he worked it out yet? How is Severus coping? Badly, I bet…"
"Tonks!"
She span around, unaware of the fact that she had ended up four feet or so away from her cousin.
"Sorry."
Sirius seemed less angry now, but still appeared to be rather shocked.
"You married Snape? Seriously?"
The charred innocence of his question made her chuckle aloud.
"I missed you, Sirius. You don't know how much."
Sirius smiled.
"I missed you too, Nymphie, and I understand that you're unhappy with being dead -"
"Not necessarily unhappy," she answered, her brow creasing. "Just worried…"
"Understandable," the former convict muttered, taking a seat on the grass that Tonks hadn't even noticed she was standing upon. He took a deep breath, seemingly nervous.
"Now, it's my responsibility to ask you this, and consider yourself lucky, because most people don't get to see Death before they make their choice."
Her pretty face shaped itself into a deep frown of wonder.
"What are you talking about?"
Sirius sighed, pulling her down to ground level with an arm, and allowing her to sprawl onto the grass before explaining.
"As I'm sure you know, dead souls can choose to leave an imprint upon the earth at their time of death, thus opting to spend forever as a ghost. However, as Life deemed you worthy for success, so did Death - you have been allowed to see the person you miss most from your life and experience a taste of the afterlife before being given the choice. Now it's your decision whether or not you want to stay here or become a ghost - but whichever you choose, it's permanent, and you won't be able to alter your choice."
Tonks's mind swam in the magnitude of this option, her hair spontaneously straightening itself to become a short, electric blue bob cut as it sometimes did when she was nervous. What the hell was she meant to do?
"I'm sorry to just launch this on you," he said apologetically, smiling slightly. "But if it makes your decision any simpler, there is something I can do."
Pulling his wand from his pocket and raising it, he plucked a small mirror from out of thin air.
"Two-way mirror," he explained, handing it to her. "This will give you a temporary direct link to Snape. Just tap the mirror with your wand, and it'll show you what he's doing now."
Tonks beamed and wrapped him in a hug.
"Thanks," she said gratefully, drawing her wand from her jacket and gently tapping it on the mirror's surface. The enchantment began to take immediate effect, and the metamorphmagus watched in anticipation as the internal smoke cleared and she saw her husband.
Tonks's heart clenched as she watched him; although the mirror didn't appear to have sound, he was clearly yelling, and with lip-reading assisting her, she was able to distinguish what he was saying and doing.
"You bring her back!" He seemed to be screaming, stunned as she saw how he was holding a wand to Voldemort's temple, his face twisted in pain that it hurt her to watch.
She witnessed the entire sequence played out, sinking steadily further into dismay.
"You bring her back now!"
"Why would I want to do that, Severus?"
Clearly just recovering from her husband's attack, Voldemort stood and threw Snape backwards, drawing a gasp of horror from her as his spine connected with the closest headstone. Stunned, she felt her shock increase as she saw how broken the Death Eater was: tears were streaming down his face as she watched, and she had never seen him so needy or pleading or pained. He looked as though staying alive was a conscious effort for him.
"You don't understand," he mumbled quietly to his opponent, squeezing her hand as he shuffled towards her, a tingle shooting through her soul's limb as though via some form of psychic connection. He turned his attention to her, his expression distraught as he whispered to her.
"Come back to me, Nymphadora. Please come back to me. I can't face him on my own. Don't make me. Oh god, don't make me. I need you…"
Gasping, Tonks dropped the mirror, almost cracking it as she felt several tears slide down her cheeks. Sirius hugged her closely, murmuring words of comfort to her.
"I can't just leave him like that…" she mumbled, hiccoughing slightly. "He'll hurt himself. He'll get himself killed to be with me."
Sirius's lips quirked upwards slightly.
"He's strong, Tonks. He'll be alright, you know."
The Auror shook her head vehemently, her expression decisive.
"He's not strong, Sirius. He puts on a façade of strength, and magically, he's powerful - but emotionally, he's just a child. I'm all he's got, all he's ever had, and he told me once that losing me would destroy him. I can't do that to him…"
She stood abruptly, determined.
"Take me back to him, Sirius."
His face adopted an expression of sincerity as he stood beside her.
"It'll mean never seeing me again, or anyone else who dies. Very few people choose to become ghosts. It means no magic, no food… nothing you've ever loved."
She smiled, taking his hand gently.
"It'll mean him," she replied, "and I love him."
"Do you? Really?"
"Yes. And he loves me too."
Sirius grinned, his face looking slightly idiotic because of it.
"Then I'm very much happy for you," he told her cheerfully. "Now, to business - ghosts..."
