Chapter Four

Warning- Contains potent super-fluff. Some users may experience extremely giddy feelings. Side affects include nausea. Do not mix with seriousness.

After the mess blocks from quarters was cleaned up, Remus accompanied Tonks back to number 12. He guided her into the drawing room, a protective arm around her shoulders. He set her down on the couch and sat beside her. The room had long been cleared of all dark magic, and finally took the appearance of a warm, hospitable chamber. The glow of the candles illuminated the rich tapestries and fine decorations. After some coaxing, Tonks removed her heavy boots, and dug her toes into the plush carpet. Their battle-torn cloaks hung by the door.

"Please tell me," he soothed. He had conjured up a hot cup of tea, which she had been able to hold steady after he mended her limp arm. She looked up into his asking amber eyes. If he could only know the pain she felt.

The Order of the Phoenix, mankind's last line of defense against Lord Voldemort and certain destruction, had nearly known complete compromise due to her own blindness.

Why did she have to be so stupid? Lupin would never have laid his trust in the wrong hands. Still, here he was, seeking an explanation, and it was the least she owed him.

"He was my boyfriend, Remus. I trusted him. I'm sorry. I know now that I shouldn't have."

She looked utterly miserable. Lupin sympathized, but was unsure of what to say. It wasn't wrong to trust people, but he couldn't help thinking that she could have been more selective. It bewildered him how Marcus had got her in the first place. A beautiful woman settling for a rock and roll addict who will treat her like rubbish. It made him shake his head. "Take your tea," he ushered.

She looked up at him properly for the first time that night, taking in the concern in his eyes, and the blood on his face from where Crabbe had caught him. "Oh, Remus! You're hurt!"

"It's nothing," he started, but Tonks had already raised her hand to his face to heal the cut, remembering the same incantation he had used on her yesterday in the kitchen. He repressed a gulp and repeated quietly, "Your tea."

She turned her attention to it and took a slow, strengthening sip. "I'm so sorry," she recanted. "If I had known that he would sell us out, I never even would have told him that I was a witch." She swallowed hard and looked up at him. "D'you think they'll let me stay in the Order?"

Her face took on such an earnest expression that it almost made him laugh. "If anything, you've done us a favor. Malfoy and Crabbe are back where they belong in Azkaban. He did use an unforgivable curse on you." He grimaced inwardly at the thought of her lying in agony on the street, and once more his pride surged that she had the power to fight it.

"I could have cost us everything," she confessed desperately. "I could have destroyed everything we've worked for, because I was stupid enough to trust him." Liquid salt dripped from her eyes, and she raised her hands to hide her reddened face, but Lupin reached up and grasped her hands, wiping her tears away.

"It's ok," he whispered. "It's ok. You are not the one who acted wrongly. It's human to trust, love. He is the one who made a mistake. Not you." He pulled her weeping body into him, caressing the back of her head and coddling her close. "It's ok. The Order is safe. You are safe." His voice and words transported her.

She laced her arms around him, internalizing his words. He rocked her back and forth gently in his strong arms. "He was a fool to let you go. And a fool to betray your trust. You are worth so much more than that, Tonks, you deserve so much better."

She absorbed this slowly and completely, lost in these new feelings of security.

"God knows if I was fortunate enough to have you, I wouldn't deliver such travesties upon you." He knew he was being reckless now but he didn't care. She was so close; her musk was interfering with his sensibilities.

Her own heart banged against her ribcage. He would be fortunate to have her? Nymphadora Tonks? The clumsiest witch in all of the United Kingdom? Thoughts stopped completely when she felt Lupin brush his cheek against hers, tracing the pads of his fingertips across her jaw line. How sweet was this movement, how tender this man could be. His amber eyes pierced her; he leaned in and set his forehead against hers.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," she murmured.

"There's no need to apologize," he reassured. "No damage has been done to the Order."

"I nearly told him..."

"You were under the Imperius Curse. And you fought it so well."

She dared to tangle her fingers in the shaggy hairs at the nape of his neck, feeling delightfully dizzier with every passing moment.

"Thanks for coming to my aid." She swallowed.

"You're spell worked perfectly. In fact, I think you have bewitched me."

"I-I have?"

"Yes. You know I care for you very much, Nymphadora."

"Tonks," she protested, barley audible.

"Tonks." He repeated softly, lacing his arms around her.

"It's you, isn't it?" She shed her breath, becoming lightheaded. "It's been you this whole time."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been by my side all this time," she murmured. Even since before Auror training. You've always been there. This whole time, it should have been you..." She let her voice trail off, realizing she didn't want him to hear what she wanted to say. A languished burning coursed through her veins.

"What should I have been?" Remus whispered, getting as close to her face as possible without touching, their noses a centimeter apart. He could feel the heat rising off her, explore the detail and intricacies in her irises, feel her sweet breath rush past his lips and sense her shaking ever so slightly. There was a pause; she respired in and out several times.

"With me," she confessed.

His response was to close the gap between them. With a small, swift motion he claimed her tenderly, sealing his mouth over hers. It was the sweetest she had ever been kissed, and she returned it completely, sighing into his mouth. Her heartbeat throbbed when she internalized what was happening. She was on the couch in her old great-aunts' drawing room, deeply kissing the most wonderful man she had ever met.

Lupin's blood surged beneath his skin. He felt strange, even amazing. Is this what it felt like to be alive? It was true that he had not led a happy life, burdened by lycanthropy, and surviving many of his closest friends. Is this what it's like to be happy? Is this euphoria? Yes, he thought. This is bliss, to be lost in the softness of her presence. He deepened the kiss, flooding his senses with her ambrosial essence. Then, he noticed something warm spread out from his thigh.

"Tonks?" He whispered in her ear.

"Yes, Remus?" She breathed.

"You've dropped your tea."

And so she had. Quite distracted, she let it slip out of her hands and spill. Embarrassment swept over her, but they both laughed anyway. He cleared it with a wave of his wand, and placed his hands on either side of her face, looking intently into her eyes. He found something unfathomable there, something esoteric. He kissed her again and realized what that something was. A risible thought entered his mind. She was the one who was accident prone, but they were both accidentally in love.

Writer's Note- The last three lines is the title to a Counting Crows song. That's all I had planned for this story, but I may do more with Lupin & Tonks. Now it's time to review! Was this chapter sweet and moving, or did I bombard you with sap and cheesiness? Thanks for reading!