A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. My muse decided to skip town on me (and it's still not really back). So I appologize if this one isn't very good.

Prompt: Thousand
Pairing: Emmeline Vance/Tonks

A Thousand Reasons Why

She sits in the corner
and silently, she listens.
You're front and center,
middle of the action.
You're y o u n g, you're innocent, you're naïve.

Her eyes d r i f t a w a y
from the head of the meeting
and they land on you of all people.
But you're too caught up in the plans
for this secret mission and that secret mission
to pay her prying eyes much attention.

But by the end of the meeting you can still f e e l her eyes
burningburningburning right t h r o u g h you.

Death Eaters are nothing,
you would face them eagerly.
But this, her eyes, her w a t c h i n g,
has your heart b e a t i n g, pounding, faster faster faster.
It has you frozen in fear.

The room empties, the other Order members f i l t e r i n g from the room,
but you stay in your chair unable to move.
When the door falls shut
with a loud (screaming) thud that echoes through the room,
it is just y o u and h e r.

Leavegetoutrunwhileyoustillcan
says the erratic pace of your heart.
It's enough to thaw your bones, to force yourself to your feet.
You try to make your way to the door
quicklyquicklyquickly (without falling into anything).

But she's older and she's wiser (and damn it she's q u i c k e r)
and she's blocking the door (your exit, your escape).
Your heart is flying, pounding, getting ready for lift off.

"What do you want?"
The words are a snap, torn uncharacteristically from your lips.
A smile curls the edges of her mouth,
a light s m o l d e r s from within her dark eyes.
But to your surprise, she steps aside.

"What are you doing?"
(You wonder at how
your voice can turn from a snap
to completely b r e a t h l e s s in all of ten seconds.)

"You wanted to leave, so leave.
I won't stop you."
But she already has.
You would have been long gone
if it weren't for h e r.

You can think of a t h o u s a n d reasons
why you shouldn't be here, why you shouldn't be doing this,
(why you should stick with your original plan and leave).
But there is o n e clear reason why you should
and it is staring back at you in her eyes
(Hopehopehope).

Slowly, those thousand little reasons
start to drift away, to d i s a p p e a r.
Because her hope is brilliant and it's blinding
and suddenly, you can't bear to disappoint it.