A/N: This fic was written for prompt eight of the rtchallenge which was simply "authority". Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pack for my holiday in the Lake District next week...(grins like an idiot) I love the Lakes...:)
Belief
"I don't know if I can do this."
He looked so fragile. He looked so scared. Tonks felt her heart lurch but she gave no outward sign of her concern as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tightly, flooding him with waves of emotion that surged richly with as much love and reassurance as she could muster.
"You'll be fine," she whispered for what felt like the fiftieth time. "Dumbledore believed you could do it. He wouldn't have appointed you otherwise."
She could feel his hair brushing softly against the side of her face as his head shook slowly in denial. "He believed I would make a good prefect too. Look what became of that."
She pressed her hands against his back more firmly, ignoring the hint of dampness that ran down his spine beneath his robes and emphasised his nervousness in ways words never could. Remus was not a man who tended to show his fears to the world – he held himself in tight control beneath the strong façade he used in public, regardless of what turmoil lay beneath. And although she hated seeing him so unsettled, a part of her secretly revelled the fact that he trusted her, valued her, loved her enough to share this intimate side of himself with no one but her.
"You're a grown man now," she whispered intensely. "And a damned good man too. You're intelligent, you're determined, you're respected by everyone who bothers to get to know you…"
"…I have lots of free time on my hands…" he added, the mildest hint of bitterness evident in his tone. "I have plenty of first hand experience with dark creatures…" He sighed deeply. "Tonks, I can't be to the Order what Dumbledore was. How can I even try?"
Abruptly, she pulled away from him, catching his face in her hands and drilling her eyes into his. She knew him too well to believe that it was the authority of being the new Head of the Order of the Phoenix he feared, or even the responsibility of defending the wizarding world against the machinations of You-Know-Who.
It was himself.
For if there was one thing Tonks had learned in the two years she had known this man, it was that Remus had a staggeringly ridiculous conviction of his own inadequacy.
"Now you listen to me, Remus Lupin," she exclaimed, her voice low but rich with sharp edged sincerity. "Dumbledore requested that you take command of the Order if something happened to him. Not Moody, not Kingsley, not even Professor McGonagall…you. Not to try and do things as he would have done them, not to try and be him, but to lead the Order in the best way you know how. And you know why? Because he believed in you. The rest of the Order believes in you. I believe in you. So don't you think that it's about time you started believing in yourself?" She smiled softly. "You'll be to the Order what Remus Lupin is, and that's what they need right now. A steady hand. Someone they can respect and trust. Someone they can turn to. Someone they know will do the right thing. And that's you." She smiled gently as she leaned gently forward and placed a brief kiss on his lips. "I love you, Remus. So trust me. When it comes to knowing what a wonderful man you are, I'm the world's greatest authority."
Quietly, almost tentatively, Remus smiled in return.
"With you to back me up," he stated softly, one finger stroking gently across her cheek in a way that sent shivers down the length of her body, "how could I dare fail?"
Abruptly, he squared his shoulders, stepping out of her hold as his face settled once more into the familiar calm front he showed to the world. "Well then," he remarked quietly. "I suppose I'd better call that Order meeting."
Tonks' returning smile lit up the world. "I believe that's the right thing to do," she said.