Wes had seen darkness before, the kind that made the streets of London seem like one of those old-fashioned Muggle photographs, the kind that don't move at all. This darkness wasn't like that. This was the darkness that robbed the werewolf of his best sense and replaced it with a paralyzing fear. In this darkness in his cage, he sat, muscles and cramped, unable to move or think of anything but Norah. He knew his eyes were only still there because he could feel himself blink, still instinctively moisturizing the organs he had no current use for. He couldn't hear anything either. He guessed that should bring his heart rate down at least a little bit, but it did not.
By his genes, he was a predator, he had the front facing eyes and the mind and rage enough to hunt, but he felt like prey in this black.
The dawn was many hours away and until that precious time, he could only wait. Moving made noise, it's bad enough he still had to breathe. But Wes knew he needed to see tomorrow to kill that son of a bitch that had brutally raped and murdered his wife in front of him. That thought alone was enough for him to hold his position for as long as it took. Not making it meant failing his Norah, and that is something he would never willingly do. Abandoning wasn't him.
Wes could feel the chains digging into his wrists, his left cheek lay firmly in the muddy dust that coated the cold concrete floor of the Malfoys' basement. From a high window came rectangle of moonlight, sending white beams to illuminate the grim and showed off the dust that swirled in the air. If he could just reach it, he could get out of here. Even if he couldn't tell the exact location, once he made it outside this godforsaken shithole that dared to call itself a manor, then he could Apparate and tell someone at the Ministry.
He strained his ears to listen for sounds, Death Eaters, someone…
Again, he focused on the window. The frame was new, but it wasn't the sort you could just open. There had to be ventilation shafts, since the bloody charms Greyback had put on the house meant no one except the Dark Lord or the Malfoy's or Bellatrix Lestrange could Apparate within the walls. Wes knew how to get his hands free, but he didn't relish doing it. Enough pressure in the right spot would break his thumb, then it would be time to get out.
He bit his tongue hard enough that he felt the blood settling on his tongue as he found his resolve to escape, popping his thumb out of place, freeing himself. It's what Norah would have wanted for him.
Wes with a light groan heaved himself up into the ventilation shaft and crawled his way towards his freedom. Once outside, the sky plunged into an ominous darkness, awakening predatory creatures out of their lair. He jumped as a distant bloodcurdling howl made his hair stand on end. Wes watched anxiously as the forest slowly transformed into a lethal playground. Tree branches stretched out in front of him, forming a cavern of distorted limbs that seemed to reach out and grab his flesh. A vile pain spread throughout his chest like a deadly infection and his lungs beseeched me to stop walking.
His knees felt like rubber after running constantly for hours and now the young man gulped selfish breaths of air. Helpless, Wes walked on, his feet dragging noisily on the carpet of lifeless leaves, each step triggering a rush of pain in his chest. In spite of his feeble condition, his lips curled into a smile as the realization that Wes had escaped finally struck him. He felt smug at his little victory.
"I made it," he whispered, glancing around, seeing no one through the rain. The more brutal the storm the calmer his racing heart was.
He'd prayed for days for Merlin to send winds enough to cover his tracks with the debris of a storm, until he could maintain a far enough distance between himself and the Malfoy manor, where it would be safe to Disapparate, to wash away any trace of his path, to remove his scent from this horrible place. If the wind were any less, Greyback and the others would have picked him off already and torn him to shreds, but even they weren't stupid enough to be outside in this unforgiving endless of violent air and rain. Bitter gusts ripped at his flimsy clothing. The wind bit at his face and stung his eyes, narrowed to keep out the relentless curtain of rain. He refused to be reduced by such a storm, he embraced it as his brother in arms, for the storm and blackened sky above currently matched his hardened heart. For only such violence could deliver to Wes what he wanted.
Greyback's head, severed and torn apart from his miserable body. Wes feared not what was ahead, only what lay behind him. Without giving it so much as a second glance back, not giving a damn anymore if Greyback came for him to hunt him down and kill him, he turned on his heel, Disapparating far away from the Malfoy's. He knew where he wanted to go. He had to find Lupin. His woman, whoever she was, was in grave danger. Fenrir still wanted her.
He couldn't wait any longer. The woman Fenrir had kidnapped was still in danger, with both Fenrir and now Bellatrix Lestrange after her.
If he couldn't get to her first, the Auror's days were numbered.
Tonks's skin still tingled where he had touched her, and her heart beat so erratically, she thought it might leap up out of her throat and fly away. Tonks took advantage of a rare day off from work to read.
Reading was like an escape from reality for her. When she picked up a book and started reading, she got so sucked into it that she forgot any of her surroundings, as always. Her imagination began to take over and she was free to fantasize like she could create a little world in her mind and imagine what the characters would look like and how they acted. Tonks thought it was crazy how much something as casual as reading can leave such an impact on her. She poured herself into the pages of her latest addiction, a copy of Stephen King's IT, a book she'd always wanted to read, one of the Muggle girls in the shop had recommended it to her once, given she'd seen the new movies.
Others laughed at her for her fascination with the Muggle world, but the way she saw it, they inhabited this world together, with wizardkind forced to hide in secrecy, and what better way than to hide in plain sight by visiting the shops were they bought their clothes, or visit the bookshops and read the books they read?
Tonks scoured the book, skim reading parts of it, reading until she was almost cross-eyed, and the words merged into nonsense as the killer clown terrorized the streets of Derry, and the Loser's Club. She lived each page in breathless rapture. The characters leapt out at her, especially Bev. Tonks admired how the girl came from nothing, escaped a household with abusive parents, something she could relate to. Her mother was never physically abusive. Her words cut the most. Tonks could find herself relating to Beverly. A knock at the door interrupted her precious reading time. Slamming her book down in frustration on her coffee table, she grew annoyed as she sat up straighter. The knock came quietly at first quietly and then there was silence. The knock was louder and faster this time, sounding impatient. Tonks stared at the door, unmoving. Her pet rabbit, Ollie, named after her first partner, when she'd joined the Ministry, sat perched on her lap, unmoving, his black little nose wiggling.
"Let me in, Dora. I know you're in there, I can hear you breathing!" came her mom. Her mother didn't wait for an invitation as she opened the door to Tonks's flat of her own accord, the sweet smell of jasmine lingers in the air so that when Andromeda Tonks crossed the threshold on Sunday late afternoon, it was like a shot of adrenaline right to her heart. Silence crashed down around the Auror. Even the leaves had ceased their scudding along the stone path. She smiled. Tonks figured she must be surrounded. She could have her killed right now but she wouldn't. Where's the sport in that? So much more fun to have her daughter lose her mind. But she won't. Tonks wouldn't. Her mother stepped nearer; the jasmine scent was now so heady it was almost poison. Tonks wanted to hold her breath and pinch her nose, but this is not going to be quick.
Mother's little visits never are. "Mum, what are you doing here, it's one o'clock in the afternoon on a Saturday. Why aren't you at home with Dad?" Tonks grumbled, Ollie in her arms. It did not escape her attention her mother's wrinkling of her nose in disgust as her dark eyes landed on Ollie.
"I came to see you!" she protested hotly, Ted Tonks trailing close behind, looking a cross between amused and thoroughly disgruntled.
"Told you, 'Meda, we should have let her know ahead of time!"
"Oh, hush," chirped Andromeda happily. "It's fine."
Tonks's mother was a woman who prided herself on her appearance. At forty-five, she could have graced a witch's magazine cover. She kept an eye on her figure, exercising and working out constantly to maintain her hourglass shape, her dark hair fell in natural waves and was cut in layers to her shoulders. Andromeda Tonks was a beautiful woman. She was highly practiced at seduction. With her good looks and high cheekbones, it was all too simple. Nothing so pretty could possibly harm you, right? Mostly she just let them feel in charge, guiding the conversation with unnoticed prompts. It was only seconds before her new target was jumping through hoops to please her. Her face and some cleavage could get her anything and anyone. No one knew how she'd take a rejection because it had never happened to Andromeda, not once in her life. Her black robes were pressed and perfect, her black high heels looking brand new, which, if Tonks knew her mother and she did, they were. Andromeda Tonks took a moment to get herself situated on Tonks's simple brown sofa and glance around her minimalist apartment with some disdain.
"So tell us both about this new man of yours. When do we get to meet him?" she said, snorting a little as she dipped into her bag to pull out her wand, muttering a quick incantation under her breath to make the room immediately smell like something floral, causing Tonks to shoot her mother a dark look, seething.
Almost as if on cue, a knock came at her flat door, rendering Tonks frozen to her spot, Ollie still her arms. She glanced down at her attire, a black tank top and her bright purple pajama pants, her pink pixie tousled and uncombed. "Oh, shit! Just—just a second!" she squeaked, wincing at loud her voice was as it carried through her apartment. Setting Ollie on her mother's lap because she knew it would annoy her; she kept her satisfied smirk to herself as her mother shrieked. Tonks bolted towards her closet, pulling on a red sweater and black pants, hoping it was suitable enough. Hobbling over to the door, pulling on a pair of fuzzy penguin socks, she wrenched over to the door, surprised to find her new boyfriend standing in the doorway, smiling at her.
Remus stood there, in khaki's and a simple dark gray sweater.
"Hi," he said warmly, breaking into a smile, a small bundle of flowers in his hands. "I know I said I'd pick you up at eight, but I just couldn't wait to see you, so I took the time to come see you and—oh," he said, looking surprised, peering over Tonks's shoulder, noticing Andromeda, his face immediately reddening.
"I didn't know he was staying over," Andromeda whispered under her breath, cringing as Ollie hopped over one of her heels. "Oh, thing, get it away!" she shrieked, recoiling from the rabbit.
"Here," said Remus kindly, shooting Tonks a brief wink as he stooped low enough to scoop Ollie in his arms, giving the rabbit a scratch on his ears. "He's cute!"
"Don't I know it," she said, trying to ignore her mother's piercing stare practically burning a hole through the back of her skull. "That's Ollie."
"Hey, Ollie," he crooned gently, still holding the rabbit in his arms. He glanced towards Tonks's mother to gauge her reaction to him. Lupin could tell when he was being judged; by the way she was looking down her nose at his sweater and khakis, slightly worn and tattered, however well cared for they were, deeming him unworthy for her only daughter. Remus had met women like these before.
"Mum, I'm actually glad you're here," sighed Tonks, sounding exhausted as she brushed a lock of pink hair behind her ear. She glanced to Remus, who nodded. No time like the present, then.
"That's a first," scoffed her mother, sneering.
"No, I actually want to tell you something really important, something good, I think. I hope so, anyways, Mum," she began, glancing at Remus, suddenly growing nervous. He shot her a brief smile and nodded, silently encouraging Tonks.
Andromeda's eyes widened. "Oh, I had a dream about this last night! You're getting back with that nice young Auror, Paul, is it!" she exclaimed, suddenly sounding delighted.
"NO, MUM!" Tonks bellowed. "I will never go back to that monster, Mum! If you knew the things he did," she shouted, ignoring the pained, surprised look Remus was giving her. She tried to ignore it, making a mental note to address it later.
"Are you thinking of switching careers?" she asked.
"Mum, I'm an Auror. You know how hard I fought for this career path. No. I'm not switching jobs, Mum, Merlin's beard! I wanted to tell you I'm with Remus now," she sighed, rubbing her temples. She was getting a headache, as she did often whenever her mother was over on a visit. He didn't wait to come closer, enveloping her hand in his hand, squeezing it. His hand was warm and a comfort to her now. The admission seemed to cleave the room in half as Andromeda fell silent, a crestfallen look in her eyes as the woman's gaze drifted and settled towards Remus's scars, and her face paled.
"But he's a werewolf!" she protested, putting the pieces together, seeing the dark circles underneath the man's eyes, and his scars.
"I know," she said quietly, not wanting to argue and make a scene. "And we don't care. I make the Wolfsbane Potion for him every month. I don't care how much Remus makes, Mum, he makes me happy. Happier than I ever was with Paul or any other boyfriend." It did not escape her attention how her words seem to breathe new life into Lupin, how he seemed to stand a little taller, prouder. Confident. She liked she had that effect on him. When Andromeda turned to glare at Remus, her eyes seemed wounded, as if she blamed him for the way her daughter was choosing to live her a life, a way that she, as her mother, disapproved of greatly.
"I know this is unexpected," he began, timid.
"Oh, this isn't you, Dora, it isn't!" Andromeda protested, feeling the beginnings of tears well in her eyes. She angrily brushed them away with a perfectly manicured finger, her nails painted a deep crimson red. "I-I know you; I know who you are, Tonks…How could you do this to us, Dora? How dare you go out and-and rut with some man like a bitch in heat?" she bellowed, her face turning red the longer she dwelled on the incident, her face nearly inches from mine. Before Tonks even had time to register what was happening, let alone react, her hand cracked across her face, snapping it back with the force of her blow and causing poor Tonks to stumble backwards. She raised her hand to do it again. "MEDA!" bellowed Ted, finally losing his temper. He seized Andromeda by her slender, bony wrist and clutched her arm in a vice grip, his eyes tired but fed up. The look of a man who'd lost his patience. "ENOUGH!" he shouted. "I may not approve of this news," he began, his gaze flitting from Nymphadora to his wife, but he sighed and continued. "But the best thing we can do right now as Dora's parents is be there for her and support her, no matter what. Face it, Meda, we're getting a son-in-law, at long last. It's what we've always wanted for our daughter, isn't it? For her to mary? You-you've lost yourself. You've forgotten Dora. But she remembered," he added, glancing sideways at Tonks, who was still clutching her still stinging cheek and on the verge of near tears. Andromeda suddenly took on a pale look, as if she'd been painted with white-wash-even her lips were barely there. Then with one step backwards, a hand clamped over her mouth, she crumpled like a puppet suddenly released of their strings, all the strength in her legs leaving her. Ted Tonks was rendered speechless and did the only thing he could. Without a word, he stooped and carried Andromeda in his arms towards Tonks' spare bedroom, slamming the door behind them loudly.
Tonks let out a huff of frustration and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Remus broke the awkward silence first.
"Well, that went even worse than I expected."
Tonks closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to quell her nerves and marched right on in the spare bedroom, not giving a damn about etiquette. "Mum, if you think I don't know who I am, you're insane!" she shouted. "If you think this means I'm going to suddenly uproot everything I've ever believed in, you're wrong. Don't worry, Mum. I like Remus. A lot and we want to be together. He's asked me to marry him, Mum, and we're getting married. I think you'll like him, if you just…give him a chance. Please, Mum, do this for me," she retorted hotly, squeezing Remus's hand tighter. If it hurt him, he never once flinched or tore his hand away. If anything, his grip tightened as they dealt with her mother's wrath.
Together, his eyes seemed to communicate. "Believe me, Mum; I wasn't expecting this to happen. I don't want to be alone anymore," she replied, glancing at Remus, whose face remained impassive, but she could see it in his brown eyes. He was growing increasingly protective of her, fierceness, intensity she had not seen before.
Andromeda started to cry, cupping her daughter's cheek in her hands, the tips of her nails digging into Tonks's cheek. She winced but held firm. "What about grandchildren?" Andromeda asked.
"Oh, for fu—not now, Mum! I finally found someone I want to be with. I am happy. Why can't you just be happy for me, Mum?"
Andromeda Tonks fell silent for a moment, her gaze drifting downwards towards her daughter's and the former Hogwarts professor's intertwined hands. It was inevitable.
"I—I need a minute, Tonks, please, don't follow me, you've done enough, dear. Just leave me for a second," she mumbled, wrenching away from Tonks's touch and disappearing into Tonks's bedroom from the spare, barely sparing Remus so much as a second glance, Ted following close behind him.
When she left, Tonks looked up at Remus, teary-eyed and hurt. "So much for open-mindedness, Rem, that went great!" she snapped, wiping away her tears with a flick of her wrist. "You'd think I would have just announced to her I was gay or something!"
Remus put his arm around her, pulling her close and rubbing her shoulder. "Give her a break, Dora," he encouraged gently, breaking into a gentle smile as she sank further into his embrace, enjoying the warmth he gave off. "It's only been a week since I proposed, after all, it's a bit of a shock to her, I expect, Tonks," he said soothingly. "It's new to all of us. We're both still getting used to these feelings, and it's only been a few weeks. Just give her some time, love."
Tonks had a pained look in her eyes. She glanced back wearily towards the bedroom. "Do you think she's okay? I didn't mean to spring it on her like that, but she gave me no choice…" she asked, her sincere question almost melting his heart. That was why he liked her so much, dare he thought even beginning to love her, but she had that effect on him. He almost couldn't explain it, but in the middle of her own turmoil, she worried for her mother. Remus knew Tonks was a beautiful woman, not just in physical beauty, but feeling beautiful from within, from the love she gave to her ideas and the creative ways she expressed her soul, as he could tell by the way she chose to decorate her apartment, only a few paintings.
Dora Tonks was one who wrapped her arms around the soul of the world, of all who loved her and those who needed love in their lives the most. That, to Remus, was beauty, and if her mother could see that as he could, then she would be smarter and wiser than most people in London. He could certainly see it. "I'll go check on her, Dora," he said gently, leaning over to give a gentle kiss on the cheek, the area where his lips had been lingered burned and tingled. He detached himself from her vice grip and made his way back towards her bedroom, feeling his palms begin to grow a little clammy at daring to enter her room without Tonks present at his side. Andromeda Tonks was sitting on the edge of Tonks's bed, the dark purple comforter a shock to the black walls of her simple bedroom. Glancing around, he could see her tastes were simple but elegant. Just like her, he thought. She glanced up at Remus with red-rimmed eyes. "Was it something I did?" she asked, sounding tired.
"I don't think it makes a difference, Mrs. Tonks," Remus began cautiously, sitting down on the edge of the bed as close to her as he dared, careful to mind his choice of words around her. "You have been a wonderful mother to Dora. Which is why she seems to be so afraid that you'll want to disown her now that she's engaged to me."
Andromeda looked as though Lupin had slapped her.
"Disown her?" she asked incredulously, as though she had misheard Remus. "Don't be ridiculous. She said she was dating you, not that she was a Death Eater," she sniffed haughtily. Andromeda took a moment to draw in a deep breath, holding it. "It's just I have to get used to all this, Mr. Lupin."
"Well you should tell her that. She'll understand," he replied, keeping his voice steady. "And please…don't call me Mr. Lupin. Remus." She nodded, regarding him in silence for a moment before shakily rising to her feet, refusing his offer of help, waving him off and going out into the living room, where Tonks was waiting for her. He would have followed but wanted to allow her a moment alone with her mother. Instead, he hovered near the doorway, pushing the door open a crack and eavesdropping on their conversation and ready to intervene at the first sign of trouble. He fell silent and listened. Andromeda was speaking to Tonks.
"I may not approve of this…match, Nymphadora," she grumbled, sounding thoroughly disgruntled, but knowing her daughter would do as she damn well liked. "But you're my daughter, and I couldn't love you anymore if you told me right now. I do not love you any less because you told me you don't want to go back to Paul. I know you had your reasons, though I think you were incredibly foolish to let him go. I just hope in time, Remus proves himself worthy. If he's not a Death Eater or a scumbag, then he'll do, I guess, but he has to prove himself, Dora." Tonks let out a tiny laugh, and Remus felt his shoulders relax as he closed the door, giving them a minute alone.
Once he heard the door shut, and Tonks breathe a sigh of relief as she slumped to the floor outside the door, her head buried in her hands. "Don't expect to be spending a lot of time with her, Rem, she'll be too busy planning my funeral right after I die of embarrassment," she moaned, closing her eyes.
Remus chuckled at her comment, joining her, his back resting against the door as he pulled her close and rubbed her shoulder. "See?" he joked. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Dora? I think she likes me. She'll come around eventually. Just give her time."
His girlfriend nodded mutely, still seemingly shell-shocked. She glanced to Remus, and saw that he was smiling at her, fighting back laughter. "What's so funny?" she asked, frowning. Tonks moved her head closer to Remus. He sat on the floor, frozen from both fear and adrenaline. She leaned in, so her forehead rested against his, closing her eyes and letting out a shaky breath, nervous.
"Thank you, Rem," she whispered.
"For what?" he replied, his voice low, husky.
"For being you. You accepted me for who I am, not for who everyone else wants me to be. So, thank you." Her voice wavered, exhilarated from the tension between them. Tonks gently leaned in and kissed Remus's warm lips. They pulled apart and took shallow, shaky breaths, gasping for air when they could at last. Unable to contain himself anymore, Remus held Tonks's head in his hands and pulled her into a fiery and passionate kiss. Her hands worked their way around his body, feeling each crevasse, each line along his perfect chiseled physique, grinning. Tonks felt herself being gently pushed onto her back as he matched her body's form. Remus's hands ventured over her curved body, exploring every inch.
They pulled apart and opened their eyes. They stared at each other, deep into each other's eyes. Remus's full of wonder and love, Tonks's full of curiosity and passion. No words were spoken but a story worthy of them was communicated with just a look. As his fingers drift from her cheek down to her collarbones, gently lifting her shirt, his eyes caught sight of the scar near her breast, his eyes widened in shock and he looked to Tonks for confirmation.
Tonks sighed, recognizing their moment was gone. Perhaps another time, but as she pulled herself to a sitting position, still slumping against the door, she did her best to ignore the pained look he gave her. A result of Greyback's attack. One touch and it was over, it was always that way with Tonks. She felt electricity in her skin, hormones shutting down of her higher brain and the rise of her animal self. From there on in it was all passion, intense, intoxicating. It was her release, her escape, her drug... not that she was easy, she knew well enough to avoid letting a man lay his hands on her. If she was smitten all she could do was go along for the ride and pray her instincts were right. There was something about him that lit Tonks up from the inside; there was something about her that melted his confidence to nothing at all. For Tonks, touching him was like being handed the Holy Grail, as if her heart was mended even though she never knew it was broken.