It was ten minutes until the end of the day at the office and Tonks was near the breaking point. She had a stack of photographs on her desk that morning with a note from her superiors to determine if any of the figures were Azkaban breakouts. It sounded easy enough, but the grainy pictures' lack of definition plus the tendency of the photographed convicts to hide under the frames made the process absolutely maddening. The last one in the pile was taken near Wiltshire, and Tonks was attempting to determine if the captured person was Bellatrix Lestrange. But the shadowy figure was adept at hiding behind an oak tree when Tonks was poking about under the frame, and vice versa. The fortunate thing, and the reason Tonks had saved this one for last, was that she knew what her ex-aunt looked like well, and so even a quick glimpse would identify her. The unfortunate thing was that the photograph wasn't giving her the chance at all.
"Oh, come off it, let me see you, you mangy git," she started cursing at the photograph, jabbing at the oak tree with her wand. There was a grainy blur, and the figure was under the frame again. "Sodding curwhacker!" she exclaimed, throwing down the photograph in frustration.
"Prewett gave you the photographs?" asked Kyle Grimsby, a very longhaired wizard who was leaning on Tonks's cubicle wall.
"Yes," she replied darkly, organising the photographs and paperwork she had already completed.
"I had them last week. She knows what a bitch they are so she rotates them among us."
"Well, that's a relief. I won't have to see them again for a while. I'm going mad." Tonks massaged her temples and looked up into the eyes of the Ballycastle Bats Quidditch team, and a certain fit Keeper flashed her a large grin and a thumbs-up. "Why are you done so early?"
"I had to write an article about the latest house protections and I just sent it off to the Daily Prophet."
Tonks chuckled. "Ask Mad-Eye Moody about it."
"No, I'd like to be able to actually enter my house from time to time."
She scribbled out her last bit of paperwork with a green quill. "Kyle, I'm saying this last picture is Lestrange because I can't get her to stand still for a second, but in case anyone asks I saw her clearly, okay?"
"All right," he replied, smirking.
"Oi, I'm finally done." With a flourish she deposited the last parchment on top of her pile, straightened it out, and dropped it into Caroline Prewett's cubicle next to hers.
"Hey, what's that broomstick doing here?" Kyle picked up Nic's Comet, which was leaning on Tonks's desk. "I thought you were saving up for a cleaning witch for the flat."
"Yes, Dad and I still are. That's my friend's broom. Well, not really a friend. But it's not mine."
"Not really a friend?" he repeated, admiring the smooth twigs.
"Well, I just met him last night. He's the best friend of one of the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was out of Floo and I was too tired to Apparate, so he lent me his broom. I have to give it back soon, though, so be careful with it."
"He just lent you your broom? What a nice fellow!" he remarked as he replaced the broom.
"I know," replied Tonks, getting a faraway look in her eyes. "He's Romanian, you know."
"Oh dear," said Kyle, recognising her tone of voice. "Tall?" She nodded. "Dark-haired?" She nodded again, and began to smile. "Handsome? ...Pale eyes? ...Green travelling cloak?"
"Huh?"
"Hi!" Nic appeared next to Kyle. Tonks jumped. "I was just seeing the sights of London and I decided to pay you a visit."
Kyle sniggered very quietly and gave Tonks a cheeky wink before sliding out of her vision. "How did you get in here?" she asked, looking for an identification badge.
"Oh," he said, turning slightly red under his coloured complexion. "Well, the security wizard was kind enough to let me visit you, though I do not know quite why –"
"My dad, I bet. He's just starting work now." Tonks was sure her dad had put her talking about the kindly stranger last night together with the Romanian who wanted to see her this afternoon. She was still deciding whether she was going to thank him or kick him. "You did get a badge though?"
"Yes..." he answered vaguely, clutching his pocket protectively.
"What's the big deal?"
"Fine." Turning cherry red, he brought out the badge.
ATTEMPTING TO CHAT UP EMPLOYEETonks grinned, Nic following, and soon they were cracking up into great fits of laughter. "Too literal that is!"
She wiped away a tear and handed back the badge. "Here's – ha! – here's your identification. And your broom."
He took the Comet. "Am I at least doing what I came here to do, then?"
"Yes, yes, I suppose you are," Tonks replied, pushing her chair under her desk. Somewhere, a deep bell sounded. "Five o'clock. I'm free to go! C'mon then, let's get something to eat."
"You sure know the way to a Stanescu's heart." Nic followed Tonks out of her cubicle and into the elevator, then to the red telephone box, and out into the bright, hot, London sunshine.
Nic was working through his third helping of chicken marsala and Tonks was munching on naan bread and sag panir when the Knight Bus banged into existence below them. A tottery old witch in scarlet robes jumped aboard, and two seconds later the bus was swerving at breakneck speed through the Muggle traffic.
"Wha iff FAH?" exclaimed Nic through his chicken, watching the purple bus veer through a traffic build-up like a fish darting through water.
"The Knight Bus. It's a wizard transport, I rode it just last year."
"An fa –"he swallowed "-and the Muggles do not see it?"
Far along the rode, there was another loud bang and the Knight Bus disappeared. "I guess not. It's a mad ride though, I nearly got sick on it."
A warm breeze blew over them. They were perched on a rooftop overlooking a busy London street, eating dinner and watching the hustle and bustle of the Muggles below. There was no Disillusionment Charm or any protection on them, as Tonks was sure no one would bother to look up, and if they did, there was a service elevator (though locked) that could explain their sitting on a tall building. The truth was that they had Apparated there after taking out at a vindaloo, Tonks's treat.
"Although it was he who found me," she had thought, "I don't want to look like a dependent. Besides, he more than likely has no British Muggle money."
And so the warm August evening found the young adults sitting on top of a flat complex with two boxes of Indian food. Sitting beside Tonks, Nic sighed happily.
"Hey, Nic," said Tonks. "I have a question."
"Hm?" he replied, taking some of her rice.
"If I take you to an Indian restaurant, am I trying to curry your favour?"
He groaned. "Less bad jokes, more goat cheese." He speared Tonks's sag panir with his fork and stuffed a cheese cube in her mouth.
"Hankff," she replied, acting upset.
"No, I am just kidding. I like to hear you talk. Tell me about your work."
She swallowed. "I'm an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, so I catch Dark wizards. Most of the time it's paperwork and prevention tactics, but just a few months ago I had to fight a bunch directly." She shuddered but Nic looked intrigued. "It sounds like fun, I know, but I got seriously hexed and I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital."
"Really?" he asked, now looking upset. "Are you all better now?"
She shrugged. "As much as can be expected. I had some wicked scars on my torso and face but I don't feel like toting them around."
Nic squinted at her and moved his head, examining her face. "Where are they then?"
"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she explained. "I look like whatever I want to."
He gasped. "Brilliant! Charlie once told me about them – you – and I thought they – you – were very interesting."
"It's like you knew me before you met me," remarked Tonks. Nic just smiled. "So...do you have Aurors in Romania as well?"
"Yes, we have had a fair share of Dark wizards and witches ourselves. In my childhood, it was a very bad time to be a well-known family. Everyone knew us, and so all the Dark wizards tried to get us, to scare the others or make a point -" He stopped suddenly. "What?"
Tonks was slightly agape. "You – you should exactly like my best friend. She left Greece when she was eight for that very reason."
"Then she and her family were smart. We, on the other hand, were not so lucky." His pale eyes darkened. "I lost a sister to the scourge of Romania, Necescu." He spoke the name with such vehemence that Tonks was sure Nic understood the terror of You-Know-Who.
"Is Nece-"
"Do not say it."
"Is...You-Know-Who-I'm-Talking-About still alive?"
"No, thank goodness. He was killed about four years ago by a special team of Numinii, what we call Aurors."
"Wow, so you still –"
"- remember him in everything I do, yes."
"But how did Charlie ever get to the dragon reservation? How did a world of wizards and witches come in and out of the Carpathians with a terrorist running around?"
"That was his great plot. By making everything look good and working for the visitors, he was able to make everyone laugh at the thought of babies being murdered because their parents did not want to submit to his regime."
Tonks put her hand to her mouth in astonishment. Nic nodded sadly.
"And did Charlie know?"
"I waited a long time after he was my friend to even tell him about the danger. I knew he would not go after an Englishman, so after about a year of him working at the reservation I told him about him."
Tonks was a little confused about the double pronouns, but she understood the cause for secrecy.
"And it saved my life, as well. Word got back to him that I was seeking international help for my country. But I hid out in Charlie's room for a long time and escaped his punishment. My good friend Jeogina, who was doing much the same as I was, had a much different fate."
"Wow," said Tonks plainly. "I thought being an Auror and part of the Order was devotion. You and your friends are – well, inspirational. Is that why you came back with Charlie?"
"No, I just came for the five-day vacation. But that is why I believed Charlie when he said your own terror was back. But why am I acting so sad? Why are you looking so upset? My country is picking up its pieces. Your country is preparing to fight the good fight and you are doing all that you can to help your people. Do not be sad, this is where a steady heart is needed most." He smiled gently, and reached out and touched her short, shaggy hair. "What colour do you call this?"
"Fuschia," she replied with a grin. "Didn't you notice my hair was totally different from last night before I told you I was a Metamorphmagus?"
Nic shrugged. "I do not usually look at hair, even when it is such an odd colour."
"What do you look at then?" asked Tonks, placing a hand on the back of her neck.
"What a person sounds like, acts like, what a person stands for." He surveyed her with his pale eyes. Tonks squinted and made her face asymmetric and ugly. Nic poked her lumpy nose. "Nope, still beautiful."
"Hey, you kids!" shouted someone from behind. Nic and a restored Tonks turned around to see a grubby-looking superintendent in the door of the service elevator wagging a set of keys threateningly at them.
"The Burrow!" shouted Nic, grabbing his Comet. A second later, there were two popping noises, and a second after that, only an empty carton of sag panir and a very confused super on the rooftop.
"Oh, we really should have given him a Memory Charm," said Nic, worried.
"It'd only make it worse now. I'll just let it slip," replied Tonks. She was still nervous, and her hair was turning an ugly, flat pinkish colour. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, still remembering the Muggle's astonished face. "Oh, we really should have given him a Memory Charm."
Nic narrowed his eyes at her in mock suspicion. "Did not I just say that?"
Tonks smiled weakly. "Okay, so I'm going to get in trouble. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Kicked out of the Order?" he suggested sadly.
"Nah, Mundungus's broken nearly every law and he's still a valuable member." Her eyes strayed to the lopsided house looming above of them, and she remembered Mrs. Weasley. "Well, I think so anyway."
"I do not think things were that bad. What could that Muggle do?"
"You'd be surprised how quickly they can catch on to things. If the Ministry let every little thing like this slip, in no time at all the Muggles would be banging on our door." She grimaced, sighed heavily, and looked around. With a shrug, she said, "Well, I don't see any Magical Law Enforcement setting us up for an ambush, do you?" Nic shook his head. "Right, then, I'll just get in and Floo myself home."
"What?" asked Nic, sounding shocked. "The sun is still up! It can not be even eight yet! Why are you going home?"
"I – uh – I actually wanted to catch up on some sleep," she explained, trying not to sound like a deserter.
"Oh." Nic looked as sad as an empty plate, and soon was just about as coherent. "Oh, well, okay, I guess you better, if sleeping – is what, you're needing, then-"
"What is it?" asked Tonks, thoroughly confused.
"Well, tomorrow Charlie and I are going to Romania, and I will not be able to see you again for quite a bit..." Forgetting something, you twit?! Tonks mentally screamed at herself. "You know, but if you do not want to spend any more time with me...."
"No! It's not that at all!" She slapped her forehead. "I just totally forgot! Honestly."
He brightened immediately. "So you do want to spend some more time with me?"
"Well, of course!" Tonks started to chuckle and ended up laughing uproariously. "Are you kidding me? You're Mr. Perfect Stranger! How could anyone not want to spend more time with you?"
"Huh?" Nic looked so surprised that Tonks couldn't tell if he was dismayed or flattered. "At home no girl ever wants to spend time with me. They all go after the foreigners and the muscular dragon tamers like Charlie. I am just an anonymous Stanescu boy."
"You're not anonymous," argued Tonks authoritatively. "And certainly at least one girl wants to spend time with you. Now knock off feeling sorry for yourself, it's not going to get you anywhere with me."
"See, you are so different!" He grinned and shook his head slowly. "No one would ever say something like that at home. That is why I like being with you."
"Good, because I'm not going all soft-headed just because you've got a todger." Tonks closed her eyes and grinned broadly at her joke. Next to her, she could almost hear him rolling his eyes. She opened her eyes wide and lightly slapped her face a few times. "Ugh, I'm absolutely zonked but I don't want to wait another – what, another month? – to see you again."
A face appeared in a window on the second story of the Burrow, and Tonks recognised Harry. He grinned and waved until a shorter, red-haired face appeared – presumably Ginny. She had a few short words with him and pulled the shade down exasperatedly.
"They are giving us our privacy?"
"It's rather rude for us to just be standing in their garden, isn't it?" She took Nic's arm. "C'mon, they have a lovely grassy knoll back here."
She led him through a grove of trees to a small paddock, where just last night she had played Quidditch with the Weasleys. As soon as they were out of sight of the Burrow, she sat down on the grass. Nic followed.
"Hey, Tonks, look at the sunset." He pointed towards the slowly reddening west through the trees. "In Romania there are always big mountains framing it, plus the occasional dragon, but the trees make it so much more –"
"- tangible?"
"How so?"
"Well, doesn't it look like all we have to do is walk back out of the grove and the sun is in our hands?"
Nic cocked his head and examined the sunset. "Yes, yes, I suppose so. I never thought something like that could be right there in front of you, but just add some trees and it's just so –"
"-close."
He was inches away from her, and he turned his pale eyes to her brightening hair. "Your hair is the colour of the sunset right now." "
Right now?"
"Right now. A minute later it will be too pink for the sky."
"I can make it more purple."
"No, I want it just the way it is right now." He took her hand. "Everything is changing as we sit here and wait, you know. You can not keep anything delayed. I want to just take this moment right here and keep it forever. The sky – your hair – in this moment, this moment only."
"This moment, right now?"
"Right now."
They kissed, and somewhere two mischievous, enterprising redheads on holiday sniggered behind their brand-new Anti-Foliage Telescopes.
Whew! I know I got a bit carried away with Nicolae this chapter, but I swear this story is not a PWP! Lots more to come, plus some more flashbacks from Tonks, and some questions I left hanging on this very sappy chapter. Oh well, could be worse...could be raining!