A/N: I had been, and still am, very busy, folks! So forgive me for this massive delay of Chapter 4, I hope you've held on long enough to witness this update. Haha. :| Well, I'm sorry-- school, mostly is the cause of this and not forgetting to mention the calamities that have recently struck our country… Fortunately I've been spared and have only been affected indirectly, so to all my fans (yeah, I know there are none. Just kidding.) you can all heave a huge sigh of relief. *wink, wink*
Gah, I think I better shut up now before you run out of patience reading my notes. =D Without further ado, Chapter 4….
When Time-Turners Go Haywire
An RLNT fanfic, AU
4: So Exquisite
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Sirius Black gracefully stood in front of the drawing room's wooden door, which he himself had opened a moment earlier. His face wasn't as refined as his posture though, for there he stood gaping at the empty drawing room, his gray eyes unbelievingly searching for a pink-haired woman whom he thought was tasked to clean the said room. He stepped tentatively inside when he spotted one of the drawers open and some of the rubbish was still there. Sirius began to suspect that something was not right; how come Tonks left without finishing her chores, let alone not tell him she was leaving?
"Where is she?" thought Sirius.
Click, click, click. The clicking sound of the locks on the front door, footsteps making its way inside the house, the slamming of the door and the clicking sound of securing the front door once more were merely distant noises to Sirius. He was too immersed in the mystery of his cousin's disappearance that he hadn't noticed one of the Order's return to the house. Only when a hand clapped him on the shoulder did he jump slightly in surprise and turned to face the person who had brought him out of his reverie.
"Oh it's you," said Sirius, nodding once at Remus Lupin before facing the drawing room again. "How was accompanying Harry and the kids to King's Cross, eh? Where are the others?"
"Nothing fatal occurred, thankfully. I don't think Voldemort would want to attack Harry at a crowded place such as the King's Cross Station," replied Remus while shrugging off his patched cloak. "The rest headed for their work in the Ministry, while Molly said she'll drop by the Burrow to get some vegetables in her garden that she'll cook here, for lunch. What're you staring at in there anyway?" he asked, taking a short look inside the drawing room before turning back to Sirius.
"Don't you find it weird that Tonks would just disappear, leaving this mess Molly asked her to sort out? And she didn't even tell me she was leaving…." Sirius mused.
Now it was Remus's turn to stare at the empty drawing room, wondering the exact same thing that was bothering his best friend. "You have a point," said Remus slowly. "Where is she?"
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"Why did you go here? I mean… in this time?" asked Remus. "Do you need to do something, see someone-- wait-- shouldn't anybody see you?"
"I didn't exactly plan this trip, Remus. Things just didn't turn out the way I expected them to, add my clumsiness and recklessness to it, and voila… lost."
"What do you mean? It sounds to me like you've found a Time-Turner lying around and you were fascinated by it--"
"Exactly!" squealed Tonks, the rush of adrenaline overwhelming her. "But I didn't expect it to backfire like this; I should've known better, I mean it was a Black family heirloom after all!"
"A Black family heirloom?" repeated Remus. "You know any Blacks, then?"
Tonks realized what she had been blabbering about and quickly clapped her hands to her mouth, as if that would change what Remus already heard. The blush crept up to her face as Remus continued to examine her.
"So it is a 'yes'," stated Remus matter-of-factly. "You know Sirius, don't you?"
"Of course not!" Tonks mumbled through her hands. "Why in the world would I know someone named Sirius, and why-- no, absolutely--!" Tonks' face was as red as a tomato by now; she took the hourglass into her hands and spun it desperately, to no avail. "Not again!" she cursed, glaring at the hourglass. Then turning hopelessly to Remus she sighed, "I knew you'd be like this. You'll be asking questions." She slowly buried her hand inside her jeans pocket, gave a small sigh of relief when she found her wand still there, and grasped it tightly.
"What's wrong with that? I'm supposed to ask questions, aren't I? You're not from here, you know me yet I don't know you--"
"Yes, I know you had to ask-- but asking about your future is definitely another issue, I can't let you get away with that!" Tonks said frantically. "I guess I'll just have to…" She pulled out her wand, breathed deeply, and suddenly looking at Remus with a grim look on her face, she whispered, with much conviction-- pointing her wand straight at Remus, "Oblivi--"
"NO!"
He had known it was what she would do. Strangely enough, Remus felt that Tonks would try to erase his memory, but it didn't matter how he knew-- all that mattered was that she didn't succeed in doing it. Remus had grabbed Tonks' wrists with one slender hand-- gripped it so tight that Tonks retorted in pain-- and yanked her wand out of reach with his other hand. His strength was unbelievably powerful, considering his thin frame, peaky appearance and the fact that he was merely fifteen or sixteen years old. "Sorry," he chuckled triumphantly, releasing Tonks. Remus stood and leaned back against the wall opposite Tonks, twirling her wand as she watched in frustration.
"Look, I just want to help you--" he began, sounding apologetic.
"Stealing my wand is your idea of helping me?" interrupted Tonks, a little rudely. She didn't care if this was the Remus she loved in the future; what he did was just unforgivable at the moment.
"Well, don't call this stealing-- I'll be returning it, okay? Just don't Obliviate me, please." Remus wasn't smiling anymore as he took small steps back to Tonks. When he was a feet away, he held out his hand with Tonks' wand in his palm. "Here."
Ashamed by her previous behavior, Tonks stumbled right in front of Remus, stiffly reclaiming her wand from him. "Th-thanks," she mumbled. She was far too impressed with Remus' generally kind behavior at such a young age considering all that he'd gone through since he was a child, and that only made her love him more unconditionally and wholeheartedly; she even imagined her heart bursting with all the love she already had for him by now.
"It's nothing," said Remus pleasantly. "Er-- can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, go ahead," replied Tonks breathlessly.
"Oh, okay," said Remus, sounding slightly surprised. He must've thought Tonks would start on him again. "Erm--may I know your name, miss?" He held out his hand and added, as if Tonks didn't already know, "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way."
Tonks laughed at this gesture, but shook Remus's hand anyway. "It's nice to meet you, Remus. I'm Nym-- Dora." Good thing I hadn't said Nymphadora or I would've choked right here, thought Tonks.
She'd have wanted him to call her Tonks, however, she figured the name would be familiar to him because it was during this period of time that her mum, Andromeda, married her dad, Ted Tonks; Tonks didn't want to give away the fact that she was their daughter. It was also because of the older Remus' discovery of her nickname approximately a month ago (when Sirius let slip that Andromeda calls her Dora at home) and when he started using it to call her (and sometimes to annoy her too) that she realized it didn't sound too bad after all. It sounded so exquisite with the way Remus said it-- so exquisite it was that it made Tonks feel like she was a princess of some perfectly-imagined kingdom far away.
Remus grinned, withdrawing his hand from Tonks'. "It's nice to meet you, Dora," he said, which made Tonks smile dreamily at him. "May I just ask… how you met me, in the future?"
Tonks stared at him warningly.
"Oh fine, I can't even ask that question--" he complained, which was unlikely of him to do.
"I'm not supposed to alter your future! But if I tell you what's going to happen and what's already happened I'd be--"
"I just don't know what to think anymore, okay?" said Remus stressfully. "I come across you, a total stranger-- turns out you're from the future and you even know me-- but I feel helpless merely taking all of this in. I'm confused, I really am-- I'm sorry…." He sat on the bed, his shoulders hunched.
And there went Tonks' defense wall, crashing down upon her: how could she not resist Remus when he humbled himself like that?
"Fine," sighed Tonks. She sat on the bed beside him. "Here goes…," she said gravely, closing her eyes, unwilling to open them till she's finished talking. "I'm-- I'm an Auror, I work at the Ministry of Magic-- I-- I'm a Metamorphmagus too, I'm an only child I-- I studied at Hogwarts too, I was in Hufflepuff, I-- I don't know what other safe things to say!" Tonks had been talking too fast, stuttering. Her eyes were still closed, still afraid of what she might let slip to Remus.
"It's all right, thanks for-- well, thanks for sharing a bit… about yourself." Remus rubbed Tonks' arm soothingly, and as Tonks slowly opened her eyes she found Remus' face inches from hers, watching her worriedly. "I'm sorry, Dora. I shouldn't have harassed you like that, you were right--"
"Yes, I do know Sirius," blurted Tonks, seemingly hypnotized as she continued to stare at Remus. She just couldn't resist him; no matter how she tried, nothing happened….
"Oh?" Remus was clearly surprised at this sudden revelation. "Blimey, that's… erm…" He turned away and inhaled deeply, unsure of what to say next.
Both of them were silent, each one preoccupied with thoughts about one another.
Wow… she knows Sirius! Should I ask her if she knows James and Peter, too?
What in the world's gotten into me? Why am I telling him things when I'm not supposed to?
I wish she could tell me everything….
Would he think I'm mad if I came right at him and snogged him?
"Dora?" said Remus, breaking the silence. "Are you okay? You still must be a bit dizzy," said Remus, seeing the dreamy gaze on Tonks' face.
"Oh no, I'm fine," said Tonks offhandedly. Remus, however, seemed unconvinced.
"Are you sure about that?" He leaned over to face her again, and inches away from Tonks' face, he looked intently into her dark eyes... he only just noticed how tantalizing Dora's dark eyes were…. Tonks just about melted when Remus peered at her, his light brown eyes seemingly like crystalline gemstones. "Yep, totally," she answered lightly, unable to breath normally now.
Then the urge to do something irresponsible sprang like a mushroom that grew out of nowhere.
Remus had touched her face as serenely as he could; it was all he'd wanted to do in the first place although he had not the slightest idea why, but what he'd done gave Tonks the go signal to do what she'd been so tempted to act upon as well...
Lifting her head up an inch and using her hands to pull Remus down by the neck, Tonks pressed her lips to Remus' and he moaned loudly, but didn't budge. Tonks smiled despite herself but didn't let go and soon enough Remus leaned on her forehead, smiling awkwardly too, against her lips.
A loud grumbling sound from between Remus and Tonks forced the two apart; they pulled away reluctantly, both gasping for breath. "What was that?" asked Remus warily.
Tonks giggled. "That was my stomach-- I forgot to mention how starved I am--"
"Dora-- bloody hell, I--! I'm sorry, I didn't even ask if you were hungry--" said Remus apologetically, which was silenced at once with a quick kiss from Tonks.
"It's okay," she laughed. "I think I could handle this one--"
"Rubbish," interjected Remus, a smug look on his face. "I haven't told you, but… we're in the Room of Requirement," he said simply. Remus met Tonks' eyes, and they both understood.
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" said Tonks airily. Both of them laughed.
"Well… what're you waiting for?" said Remus, after they had tired themselves of laughing. "What would you like to eat, Dora? Ask away…."
To Be Continued…
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A/N: Oh, damn. Finally, I finished this! Finally, finally, finally. Wow.
Read and Review, dears. Those who do will be granted the courage to grab either Remus or Tonks and just snog them…. :) And as Remus said: Well… what're you waiting for?
My last statement, as always: Thanks a million, people.