Author's Note:
I'm back from my road trip! And OMG my friends and I got totally lost o.0
Anyways, so the trip was fun and inspired a lot of new ideas I should probably get to, hmm...=.= And as for this chapter, I'd say it was kind of weird for me writing it because it's summer right now and I'm writing about Christmas, it's a bit awkward and I'm definitely not feeling the holiday season, but then I don't really want to skip Remus and Tonks' first Christmas together entirely. So this chapter is basically a lot of fluff or very fluffy I guess. Anyways, I hope the chapter isn't too bad and hope that you enjoy it somewhat, haha (laughs nervously). Some feedback would be nice, thanks again and thank you for reviewing and reading ^_^
P.S. SaDiablo19, it's alright if you don't read and review it right away, I know, life can be quite a ride but thanks for still reading and reviewing this! ^_^
Chapter 10 – Bells Chime at Midnight's Moon
For the first time in such a long time, Remus had to admit he was looking forward to Christmas that year. Before, Christmas would be nothing more than just another day to him, but that year, he had his closest friend back, and a woman who he found he can't get out of his mind. It was Christmas Eve, early in the evening and Remus' eyes were fixated upon the window for a moment, watching as the white snow landed on the outside and piling up around the edges. Then his vision returned to the inside of the Black library at Grimmauld Place, turning to the warm fire that crackled under the mantle. He had a book in his hands, something he still hadn't finished. Sirius sat on the single leather armchair across from him, a half empty bottle of fire whiskey in one hand, the Daily Prophet in another.
In his mind, Remus' thoughts would flicker back to the night Arthur was attacked at the Department of Mysteries. He remembered how Tonks had taken care of his wounds for him with hurt in her eyes and a look so gentle it was like none other. He remembered how they had spent the night, kissing each other on and on, but luckily having enough control to just stop there. Then Remus remembered how she had so many doubts in her mind, after her unexpected and unwanted encounter with Bellatrix Lestrange. He remembered Tonks' fears, of becoming bad like them, and how she had admitted that she was afraid of Bellatrix.
"Padfoot, what's the relationship between Nymphadora and Bellatrix Lestrange?"
Sirius glanced up at Remus from behind the large moving pictures and headlines of the newspaper, his expression unreadable. "A very bad one mate," he simply replied.
Remus needed more than that. "I understand that, but Dora admitted she was afraid of Bellatrix. What exactly did Bellatrix do to her?" he asked, more clearly that time.
"I don't know if Tonks would want me telling you this," Sirius sighed. "But you two are so close I guess it wouldn't hurt." He folded the newspaper and set it to the side as he took a swish from his nearly empty bottle of whiskey. "Before all the things between us happened, when Tonks was about four or five, Andromeda ran into Narcissa and Bellatrix at Diagon Alley. Bellatrix found out Tonks was the daughter of Andi and Ted, and she freaked, screaming at how they are a disgrace to our family and such, you know, all the stuff my nut of a mother screams whenever she's awake. Well Bellatrix went a little too far and hexed Andromeda with the Cruciatus Curse, while Narcissa only watched and did nothing to stop her."
"She hexed her own sister?" Remus asked in slight disbelief.
"This is Bellatrix Lestrange we're talking about here. I don't think she cares who she hexes. But dear Bella always had a sort of fetish with the Torture Curse and I'm pretty sure she was laughing hysterically while hexing Andi, in front of Tonks. As a child, she was probably scarred by that, and it probably caused her fear for Bellatrix. Adding on, a week or two ago Tonks was under the curse by Bellatrix and that probably triggered something." Sirius paused for a moment. "Tonks admitted she was afraid of Bellatrix in front of you?"
Remus nodded, his eyebrows knitted together. "That same night at her apartment."
"Did she say anything else?" Sirius now showed more concern for his cousin.
Remus nodded again, his face looking troubled with his premature lines more visible. "She feared she was becoming like Bellatrix because she had used the Cruciatus Curse to save me. She's afraid she's going bad and that it's in your blood."
"Well that's just rubbish. Your blood is nothing more than a liquid in your body necessary to help you survive and is nothing more than that. You can't go bad because of your blood. Moony what did you say to her? Is Tonks still troubled about it?"
Sighing with a bit more ease, Remus shook his head. "I comforted her and I hoped it was comforting. I've watched Nymphadora closely since then and she doesn't seem to be letting it bother her too much. Although I've noticed that she's a bit more sensitive of her short temper now. One time after she got angry at Kingsley she actually apologized to him and made a somewhat big deal out of it. Other than that, I don't see anything wrong."
Sirius nodded. "It'll all blow past us soon," he smiled a bit, reassuring Remus. "So…we just got a bit too serious for my liking," he suddenly laughed, finishing the last bit of his whiskey. "It's Christmas Eve Moony, let's go down and get some food and see if Tonks is back from her visit at Ted's muggle family."
"Sounds good," Remus smiled, pushing himself off the sofa and leaving the book there.
"So now I have a question for you," Sirius asked, rubbing his chin in the familiar way.
"What is it Padfoot?" Oh Merlin is this the motherly Sirius popping up again?
"That night after the attack, you didn't come back. Did you sleep at Tonks' place?" Sirius narrowed his eyes accusingly, watching Remus' reactions closely.
He could feel his cheeks warming up, no, burning up to be exact. "Um..." Even if I say we didn't do anything, Sirius is known to blow things like that out of proportions. But we did kiss and that was it. Although the motherly Sirius isn't one to listen to explanations regarding those things. I hate to admit this but Sirius is worse than Andromeda.
"So you did? Wow Moony, you managed to shag my cousin already!"
"No, no we didn't do anything!"
"Right, I'll believe that. Come on then Moony," Sirius laughed sarcastically, grinning.
Great, now Padfoot thinks I shagged his cousin. Damn. If I did then I wouldn't mind admitting to it, but we both had somewhat of control that night and nothing happened. Bloody hell, why am I even thinking of these things? Nymphadora and I haven't known each other for a full year yet! Though it feels like we've known each other for ages…oh sweet Merlin.
Downstairs, they could hear the pots and pans clicking against each other and the stove as Molly heartily prepared the Christmas Eve dinner. Remus' stomach turned when he thought of that year's Christmas, how he was surrounded by people who didn't mind of his condition. It was so different from all the years before. The kids have returned from Hogwarts and were complaining about the many changes the Ministry has made there. They were talkative and loud, adding more vibrancy to the once dead house. Remus enjoyed the noise, and colors.
"Tonks was right, Umbridge is a complete toad," Ginny spoke, walking down the stairs.
"A pink toad as a matter of fact," Fred and George Weasley spoke together.
"Hello Professor Lupin," Hermione smiled from beside Ginny.
"Hello Professor," the three Weasley children greeted.
"I'm not your professor anymore. I'm afraid you have a new one now, um, Professor Umbridge the toad?" Remus smirked. "Call me Remus, please."
"We'll try," Ginny smiled.
"But you'll always be the best DADA teacher we've ever had," Hermione sighed.
"Tonks!" Ginny jumped, seeing a bright fiery red haired witch walk through the front doors of Grimmauld Place. She ran towards Tonks, seeing her for the first time since returning from Hogwarts. They hugged and Hermione took turns to greet the bright haired Auror as well.
When the kids finally got into the kitchen, Tonks had managed to trip over the troll legged umbrella stand Remus and Sirius purposely moved down the hall, hoping she wouldn't fall into the kitchen by it. Attempt failed, unfortunately. Her hair was still fiery red, matching the Weasley's, a color it turned when she was angry or frustrated.
"Happy Christmas," Remus smiled genuinely as she approached him. He noticed her flaming red hair. "I'm guessing your visit with Ted's muggle relatives didn't go too well?"
"Happy Christmas Remus, Sirius, and oh of course not! It was a disaster!"
"Do tell," Sirius grinned, walking between the two purposely.
"They have no respect for people like us, at all! My aunt spent half the time convincing me to try and rely less on magic and more on those odd muggle contraptions. Ugh it was irritating!" Tonks stressed as they walked down the hall together. "Look at this," she exclaimed, pulling out an unopened calculator from her bag. "This is what she got me for Christmas! A calculator! A bloody calculator! What the bloody hell am I going to do with a calculator?"
"Calculate?" Remus replied with an act of innocence, smirking and stifling back a laugh.
"Very funny," Tonks replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "That reminds me, Christmas presents," she then grinned, getting over her muggle relatives she rather didn't enjoy. "Sirius here's yours!" she beamed, handing him a neatly wrapped present with the most colorful wrapping paper and bow ever.
"Oh Merlin presents!" Sirius had demolished the colorful wrapping in seconds, pulling out from the tan colored box what Remus recognized to be a CD Player, something Tonks had shown him a while back. "What's this?" he asked, wide-eyed and curious.
"It's a CD Player," Tonks smiled. "I even took the liberty of burning all your favorite songs in there for you."
"That's why you made me list them last week," Remus nodded, remembering.
"Yes, and here's yours!" she grinned, pulling out another present for him.
"Thank you," Remus smiled genuinely as they both leaned back on the wall in the middle of the long hallway. He carefully unwrapped the present with meticulous grace and Tonks watched, realizing she much preferred Remus' way as compared to Sirius'. He then pulled out what was a very elegant, wooden covered book. It looked like a journal at first, but he opened it and saw vibrant moving pictures inside, many were of him and Tonks with Sirius and all their friends. He hadn't even realized many of these pictures existed, until he saw the bright, beaming grins on both Sirius and Tonks' face. "You took these without telling me didn't you?"
Tonks nodded quickly, satisfied with the wide grin plastered on Remus' face.
"Thank you, Dora," he spoke softly, unable to resist his urges as he leaned in and gave her a kiss right on the lips. Tonks responded with another kiss, and it followed a chain back and forth for a few minutes.
"Oh Merlin," Sirius rolled his eyes as he plugged the headphones in to his CD player and headed in for the kitchen. "Remember, the kids don't know you two are dating yet, so let's not give them a heart attack shall we?" He reminded them before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Dora this is the best present I've ever gotten in years, including what Sirius had sent me last year while he was in hiding," Remus grinned.
"Really? What was that?"
"Actually I'm not entirely sure. I think it was a dead rat though, or something like that."
Tonks laughed, her grin making Remus feel even more elated at the holiday season. As he watched her, he could tell that from two weeks ago, she was feeling much better. It must be the holiday mood that was cheering her up, or possibly something else. Either way, he was glad that she wasn't letting the thought of her ill-hearted aunt bother her.
"Oh that's right," Tonks spoke, pulling back from her laughter. "The kids don't know."
"What do you think?" he asked wide-eyed. "We can't scare them, but they should know."
"Or we could just let them figure it out for themselves?" Tonks suggested.
Remus grinned. "And what do we say when they ask?"
"Nothing," Tonks grinned, feeling in the mood to mess with people as she kissed him.
They both broke apart abruptly and straightened themselves out when they suddenly caught Severus Snape, gliding down the hall with his robes swaying behind him. Tonks was sure there was no wind in the house and raised an eyebrow at the way Snape's robes would sway with the wind. Her animosity for Snape caused her to almost sneer at him, but Remus stepped in between them with a wide, mirthful smile, much opposing Snape's icy expression.
"Severus, did you come for dinner?" Remus asked kindly.
"No, I'm afraid Dolores Umbridge has filled my schedule up so badly I won't be free until spring. Professor Dumbledore asked me to bring this to you, for the New Year," Snape spoke coldly as he handed Remus a closed cauldron of a potion they all knew too well, and then again glided back down the hall, disappearing at the door.
"Umbridge is such a toad," Tonks sighed.
"He gave me enough for only one month though," Remus mumbled, looking at the cauldron skeptically. "Nymphadora, I'll take this upstairs and how about you go in first?" Remus asked, seeing Tonks reply with a nod, a lightning quick kiss on the cheek, and then she disappeared into the kitchen. He could see Hermione and Ginny's watchful eyes from where they sat as Tonks opened the door, but it closed quickly and their gazes didn't seem too curious.
The girls could figure it out by themselves. We're not too discreet I don't think. Happy Christmas indeed. Now for Nymphadora's present. Hopefully Padfoot didn't give anything away.
Dinner had started with a still injured but happily grinning and talkative Arthur Weasley sitting at the head of the table, between his wife and his children. Mad-Eye had agreed on the dinner offer, along with Kingsley as well as they engaged in various conversations with Arthur. The table was filled to the edges with the feast Molly had cooked all day long, each dish provoking Tonks to at least try. Remus found himself acting like a school boy again, laughing happily with the rest and especially with Tonks and Sirius. Sirius though, after speaking with Harry, had tuned out most of the party to listen to the CD Player Tonks had given him, his head nodding to the music, much to the amusement of the young boys, especially his godson, Harry.
"Tonks," Ginny suddenly asked. Remus was listening discreetly as he turned his gaze up to Molly's conversation, pretending like he couldn't hear what Ginny was saying. "Tonks is Professor Lupin drunk?"
Tonks nearly spit out her drink, laughing, unsure of what to say or how to reply. "What makes you say that?" she asked, wiping her lips as she heard Sirius trying hard not to laugh beside them. The man was turning red from holding back his laughter, beside Harry.
"Because Professor Lupin is blushing like mad, and his grin is wider than any I've ever seen," Ginny replied, gesturing to Remus who was laughing at something Arthur had said along with Ron. He was leaning over the table, though his body was turned slightly back, facing Tonks. Their hands were locked under the table, out of sight from the children.
"Oh no, I don't think he's drunk. It's probably just the holiday season," Tonks spoke through fits of laughter. She gave him a little nudge and watched as Remus dropped his head once in a laugh. She knew he had listened and was probably amused at the children.
Suddenly, Sirius couldn't hold back much further and let out a rather loud and disruptive hysterical laugh, tears welling in his eyes as he caught his breath through the fits of silly hysteria.
Great, now he's got the whole table looking at him.
"S…sorry," he spoke through his laugh. "F…funny contraption!" He made the quickest excuse he could find by showing them the CD player, headphones partially in. "Tonks' present for me." His voice got higher. Harry was beside him, confused and laughing at the mad man.
Nice one Sirius. Maybe next year I'll give you a dead rat instead of something nice.
At the end of dinner, Remus and Tonks were the last to leave. As Tonks headed out into the hall and walking towards the stairs, she suddenly felt a pair of warm hands on hers, pulling her back and spinning her around. She was met with Remus' face, smiling shyly at her. She was happy but slightly confused. He had just been laughing and grinning hysterically during dinner, and now he was shy? No matter, she kissed him briefly on the cheek as Remus looked down at her, still holding a shy, timid smile on.
"Something up?" she asked him when he didn't speak.
"I still haven't given you your present," Remus smiled, still shy and timid.
"Remus you don't have to…" Tonks suddenly stopped, wide-eyed when she heard the familiar clonking down the hall. Without thinking, Remus pulled open the closest door to them which happened to be the closet of cleaning supplies, barely bigger than a broom cupboard. Tonks pushed Remus and herself inside, quickly closing the door and listening closely as the clonking passed. She let out a sigh as she pulled out her wand and lit up the small space.
"Wow. And now we're in a closet," Remus smirked, looking around.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you've never had any broom closet action," she teased.
"None like this," he smiled. "Now, I still haven't given you your Christmas present yet." From his pocket, Remus pulled out a silver necklace with the shape of a crescent moon on its face and three stars. It was beautiful, simple, and lovely. "Happy Christmas Nymphadora."
"Do you have to call me Nymphadora all the time?" she grinned. "It's lovely Remus. But aren't you allergic to silver?" she asked with a worried gaze at the end.
He shook his head. "It's platinum. It's something my mother left me and I've been saving it for someone special," he explained, placing it around her neck and latching it tightly as Tonks gave him a strong kiss on his lips. After a moment they finally pulled apart, but were still close.
"Remus it's so beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it. It's kind of like a family heirloom or something, so I'm glad I could give it to you," he smiled warmly. Seeing it around her neck, it never looked more belonging.
"Thank you," Tonks smiled genuinely, touching the crescent moon necklace.
"Nymphadora, I love you," he grinned, leaning in to kiss her again.
"I love you too, Remus," she muttered, her lips not parting from his as they kissed passionately and strongly in the closet, not minding the tight space. Remus held her face with his one hand, pulling her closer with his other. They kissed for what felt like hours but it had only been minutes. They were so close that they could feel each others' heartbeat and hear each others' breath in their short gasps for air between the kisses.
The closet door suddenly swung open, freezing them both in their kiss. Remus and Tonks stared wide-eyed at the little house elf that had just wandered upon them, Kreacher. The house elf made a disgusted face at them, mumbled ten or more curse words that neither Remus nor Tonks would ever repeat in their lifetime. He then walked away, still mumbling something, insults perhaps. Remus and Tonks then faced each other, embarrassed, but stifling back a laugh.
Upstairs, Sirius was screaming at Kreacher about something, his words drunken and slurring, unable to be understood. Remus and Tonks had managed to quiet him down, along with the screaming portrait of Walburga Black. Kreacher had disappeared for the rest of the night, leaving Sirius lying drunk and out cold on the long leather sofa in the library beside a warm blazing fire. Molly had already put the children to bed before midnight came and had disappeared into her room with her husband, happy that he was finally back from St. Mungo's.
Remus placed his Christmas present from Tonks, a lovely photo album and them, gently down on the side table after they had finished looking through it. He added more wood to the fire in the library, watching for a moment as it crackled. He then joined Tonks by the window, watching the snow fall quietly. They stood in comfortable silence, happy to simply be in the presence of one another. Remus placed his arms around her waist, pulling Tonks' petite body into his as he rested his head gently on her shoulder. They watched the snowfall together, both wearing warm and tender smiles on their faces. Remus couldn't deny that that year's Christmas truly was the best one he'd ever had. It made him forget completely about the weights and burdens of the world, the troubles and worries that his past had placed upon him. It had even made him forget for a moment, that they were approaching war.
"Sirius really likes your present. He's still listening to it," Remus pointed out softly.
"Yeah, drunk and out cold," Tonks smiled.
"Nymphadora, thank you. This was the best Christmas I've ever had."
She placed her warm hands over his around her waist and turned to kiss Remus on the side of his chin. "Mine too Remus, mine too."
"It's almost midnight. Should we go to bed?"
"Almost. The bells don't chime until midnight. I want to wait till then."
"Alright," he smiled, turning her head gently and kissing her.
At exactly midnight, the bells of the muggle city near Grimmauld Place chimed loudly, echoing through the warm but frosty winter wind. The low tone carried through the air, twelve times, to Tonks and Remus' waiting ears. The low bells were soon followed by many smaller ones, sounding like jingles of the Christmas carols. The sounds melted together into a perfect harmony, causing Remus to realize why Tonks had wanted to wait to hear it. It was a wonderful tune that made him grin foolishly like a flustered schoolboy as he held the beautiful woman tightly in his arms, forgetting all about the weights he carried on his shoulder.
"Remus, next Christmas, promise me we will spend it together." Tonks asked him in a very soft, very delicate voice as her fingers were placed upon the lovely crescent moon necklace he had given her, the best Christmas present she'd ever gotten.
He didn't even need to think. If Tonks hadn't asked, Remus knew he would have. "I promise, Nymphadora," he sighed softly by her ear, smiling. He could feel her heartbeat fasten a bit at his words, kind of like how they'd race when he'd say I love you. Remus had made a promise to her, a promise he intended to keep. He'd never had such a strong urge to kiss her than that moment. Giving in easily to his strong temptations, Remus leaned in and captured Tonks' lips with his, kissing her gently and tenderly. For a moment, Remus had a feeling that they were both thinking the same thought.
Happy Christmas love. And thank you for the best Christmas ever.
Leave a Review! ^_^