It was the longest night of Tonks' life.
As soon as Severus told her that, she apparated before everyone else in the group. She stood in the house she was raised in, it was beyond recognition. She found her parents, lying on the ground, not quite dead. There was still a little life in them. Quickly she went to the fireplace and talked to St. Mungos, who promised they would be there within three minutes.
The rest of the group arrived by then. Severus knelt by her father and made him drink from a small vial. Her father's eyes opened briefly. Severus moved on to her mother, and she drank from the same vial. "What are you giving them?" Tonks cried.
Without looking up, Severus answered, "Essence of olive mixed with crushed ginger root. This will help, Dora. I wouldn't do anything to harm them.
Tonks ran back to her parents. Both saw her then, "Hi Mum. Hi Dad," she said gently. She heard a crew from St. Mungos enter the house then.
"We've got to hurry," the head healer said. "We have a lot of other calls tonight."
"Oh, please don't hurt them!" Tonks cried.
The witch looked at her, "We won't," she said confidently. "But we need to know what happened."
"Death Eaters paid a visit," Severus answered for Tonks, putting his arm around her.
The healer shook her head is disbelief, "That's the fourth house tonight," she said.
Quickly, the team levitated Andromeda and Ted Tonks onto a pair of stretchers. "Please don't worry," a different member of the crew said. "We're going to knock them unconscious for the journey." Another threw floo powder over the fire and yelled, "St. Mungos, Spell Damage." And with that, the team ran into the flames, with Tonks parents.
"I'll be there soon," she whispered to her parents, burying her head in Severus' shoulder.
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Molly Weasley handed her a paper cup of coffee, "Here, dear, you'll want this."
Tonks nodded, "Thank you," she said bringing her knees up to her chest. She wished Severus was still here. After he brought her to St. Mungos, she insisted that he leave to go help the Order tonight. Not wanting to be alone, she asked if Molly would be willing to sit with her. Molly stayed with her willingly.
"Your parents are wonderful people, Tonks. Please remember that. I remember when I was at Hogwarts with them. Ted was a perfect my first year. And Andromeda was as different as you could get from her sisters," Molly said kindly.
"I forget you knew them," Tonks answered.
"Not knew them, I know them. Andromeda was only two years older then me. Granted she was in Slytherin, but she didn't belong there."
Tonks nodded. "Well, most Blacks were in Slytherin, weren't they?" Molly asked.
"Sirius wasn't, he was a Gryffindor. I'm a Ravenclaw," Tonks was grateful for any semblance of a normal conversation. Tonks' eyes filled with tears as she started rocking herself. The movement was very comforting. Molly and she sat in silence.
Molly looked down the hall, "Dear, there's the Healer. You couldn't ask for a better one. We went to Hogwarts together," Molly said.
A striking looking woman stood before Tonks and held out her hand. "I'm Healer Thorn. All I can tell you right now is that your parents will live,"
Tonks breathed a sigh of relief. "They are still unconscious and we just don't know what they were hit with yet. But I promise you, they will live."
"How long will it take?" Tonks asked.
"To be honest, I don't know. Because of all the attacks tonight, we're stretched rather thin. Since your parent's conditions are no longer life threatening, I might have to let people with more serious problems get looked at first," the healer said truthfully.
"That's fine, as long as they get better," Tonks sighed.
"They will get better," Healer Thorn said cheerfully.
"May I see them?" Tonks asked eagerly.
"Of course," Healer Thorn said, "Second room on the right." Tonks ran straight into the room without looking back. Her parents were lying there, looking at the ceiling. She brought a chair and put it in between the two beds. Gently taking her parent's hands, she whispered, "Mummy, Daddy, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry." She repeated those words over and over while tears freely fell down her cheeks.
This was all her fault. If only she kept being a metamorph a secret. Or why did she have to be an Auror? Death Eaters wouldn't have attacked a maid. She sat motionless for ten minutes when a hand was placed on her shoulder. It was Healer Thorn. "We need to look at your parents again. Why don't you go get some rest? We will let you know the moment they get better."
Tonks nodded. If her presence would be no help here, she wanted to go help somewhere, do something. She stood up, "Thank you, please take care of them," she said. "Goodnight, Mum and Dad," she said as she walked out of the room. Molly was waiting for her there.
"What would you like to do?" Molly asked cautiously.
"Let's go back to Headquarters and help the Order," Tonks said.
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Tonks was up the whole night. She and some other Order members went back to her parent's house to try to clean it up a bit. She had to admit, that when they were done, the house looked almost back to normal.
By the time the sun was rising, Tonks was ready to get some sleep. After apparating to Headquarters, she quickly talked to St. Mungos and found there was no change in her parent's condition. There were not many people at Headquarters, most having gone home by now for some sleep. It had been agreed that there would be another meeting tonight.
Tonks feel asleep briefly on the couch, when she felt someone sit next to her. "Dora, wake up. Let's get you in bed, darling."
Half asleep, Tonks answered groggily, "But I thought you wanted to think."
He kissed her forehead, "I did think, Dora." Gently he picked her up and brought her up to her room. Tonks scarcely realized what was happening, since she was practically sleeping again.
"Dora, stay awake for two more minutes, okay?" he asked.
Tonks nodded, "My parents are going to live," she sighed.
"That's the best news I've heard all day," Severus said, as he took off her robe.
"Can I please sleep now?" she asked, as she lay down on her bed. Severus removed his robe as well and laid down right next to her and also fell asleep.
Several hours later, Tonks woke up with a start. She had had a dream where her parents had not lived and had come back as ghosts to haunt her. Sitting up, Tonks realized that Severus was still there, asleep. The slight movement that she had made woke him up.
"Mornin' Dora," he said softly. Tonks laid her head back on her pillow and faced him.
"Morning yourself," she said back to him.
For a few moments they looked at each other. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you the other night," Severus started, "I…"
He never had the chance to say the next word as Tonks pressed her lips up urgently against his. Hungrily, he kissed her right back. Tonks knew that she had to find a release for all of the different emotions she had experienced in the last few days.
She immediately got on top of Severus, straddling him, kissing him the entire time. His tongue stroked hers, as the kiss probed deeper and deeper. She could feel his hands going beneath her shirt, gliding over her back. Quickly, Tonks took off her t-shirt and threw it to the floor.
"Oh, Dora," Severus cried.
Tonks got off of Severus then and found her wand, putting a silencing and Imperturbable on her bedroom as fast as she could. "Just in case," she whispered in Severus' ear, while nibbling on the earlobe.
While kissing her neck, Severus took his hand and gently put it over one of her breasts. He stroked until Tonks thought she would go insane. She tried to reach her bra clasp, but Severus beat her there and took of her bra. As he kissed her tender spots, Tonks started unbuttoning the insane amount of buttons that was on his coat. Only when she actually swore in frustration, did Severus stop what he was doing and help her with the buttons.
Tonks let her hand slide lower until she felt the bulge in Severus' trousers. He closed his eyes and moaned at her touch. Severus went to remove the rest of his clothing quickly, and Tonks eagerly shed her clothes as well.
For a brief moment, all movement on the bed stopped, and the lovers just looked at each other. Severus brushed a orange curl out of Tonks' face and asked, "Please be you, Dora."
She scrunched her nose and the curls disappeared and were replaced by strawberry blonde spikes. "You're beautiful, Dora," he said, kissing her again. Tonks never wanted this moment to end, yet she wanted to experience the next moment more.
She took his hand and guided it in between her thighs, "Feel how wet I am," she whispered.
Severus felt the moistness and groaned. Tonks arched her back, spread her legs and felt Severus plunge into her. Together they moved, faster and faster, until they both found their final release.
Afterwards, Tonks and Severus held each other very close. There were no words between them until Tonks giggled. "That giggle is going to get me in trouble some day," Severus said, which made Tonks giggle even more.
Tonks rested on her side and looked at Severus. "It dawns on me that I told Professor Dumbledore that I love you, even before I told you."
Severus sat up very quickly at that. "Dora, please don't toy with me. Please don't say anything like that unless you mean it."
Tonks sat up and put her arms around him. "I would never deceive you, Severus. I mean what I say. I love you."
Severus just sat there, being held by Tonks. After a minutes silence, Tonks said, "I'm realizing that I've now told you twice that I love you, and I've yet to hear those words back."
"Merlin, Dora, you must know I love you. You're part of me now. I don't think I could survive without you," he said, stumbling over some of the words.
"Good."
"Good?"
"Good, because I won't be able to survive without you either," she told him, kissing his neck.
Yawning, Tonks placed her head back on her pillow. "Let's try to get some more sleep," she said.
Severus nodded and laid down putting his arm around her. Two hours later, they awoke and went to explore each other some more.