Disclaimer: Any characters mentioned/used still don't belong to me. The song, "The First Time," belongs to Daniel Cage.
Part V:
Chapter 1: The First Time
Now I see the world
For the first time
She sat down next to him, filling his senses with every kind of smell imaginable: from baking bread,to sunshine to brewing potions. Her hair was a violent, electric green color and her clothes, murky brown and shimmering blue under certain lights.
"We were told to blend in, Tonks," Remus told her as he coolly appraised her choice of disguise. She didn't look any different than she did when they weren't out on assignment.
Tonks sniffed. "Never mind that." She looked directly at him, leveling her gaze with his. "Besides, I have an easier time blending in then you do."
Remus didn't reply, instead he looked away, focusing his attention on where the tall, dark figures were to appear in the distance. They were going to follow these people; these men and women who'd chosen to follow Voldemort and kill innocent people, Magical and Muggle alike, to prove their servitude.
"Focus, Nymph," he reminded her, using the nickname he'd developed for her sometime during the two years since the Dark Lord returned.
She stuck her tongue out. "I'll have you know that I don't find you very amusing, Remus," she told him.
He wasn't bothered by it. They'd had this conversation many times. "I'm not too worried about it."
She sighed and turned around, leaning her back against the low concrete wall they were hiding behind. "I hate the waiting."
Remus didn't look at her. He was afraid that if he did, too much emotion would be conveyed in his look. At first, she'd been just a younger sister to laugh at when Sirius played a prank on her. Then, after Sirius had been killed, she was someone to look after. Now, two years later he wasn't quite sure where she stood with him.
She fidgeted next to him for a few minutes, out of the corner of his eye he could tell she was changing her appearance at will, for amusements sake but he could tell she was about to tell him how sick of the wait she was.
She poked him in the ribs. "I'm bored," she hissed.
He was forced to look at her. His mouth must have fell open upon seeing her face now because she screwed up her nose and raised her eyebrows. "Yes? What's so funny?"
He brought his face closer to her. "Is that what you normally look like?" he asked, astounded at how normal and un-Tonks like she looked.
Her face was still heart-shaped, her lips still red but her hair was long and a dark chocolate color. Her eyes, a bright blue color. She was exceptionally beautiful, normal looking but she didn't look anything like herself.
A nice blush covered her cheeks and her eyes lowered in what he could only assume was embarrassment. "Gee. Thanks for making me feel like I look odd," she teased.
"I-I didn't mean to," he said quickly, feeling instantly sorry.
Before his eyes, her appearance changed again. This time, white hair and pink eyes. He chuckled slightly. "Don't you ever get bored? Changing appearances all the time? Isn't it a lot of work?"
She cocked her head, a small smile playing at her bow-shaped mouth. "Wouldn't you know the answer to that question, Remus?"
He was quiet. She was right. He would know.
"Sorry," she said quietly, thinking that she'd overstepped her boundary as partner.
Remus didn't reply. He focused his energies instead at lighting a single blue flame so that they might have some amount of warmth.
I'll light the sun
And the darkness will turn into light
Now I see the world for the first time
When he looked at her once again, a bluish tint danced across her face, giving her this otherworldly appearance. Angelic and devilish like all at once. He smiled despite himself.
They were quiet for a time and then Tonks spoke again, bored with the silence. Remus thought that was one of her endearing, albeit annoying, qualities; she always had to be entertained.
"Do you ever wonder if Sirius could have been saved?"
Remus wasn't shocked by her question; often they'd spoke his friend, her cousin. In fact, they'd had this conversation before. Last time though, it had been him who'd asked the question.
He was careful to answer though.
"No, I don't think so." He took her chin between his hands and stared into her eyes. He meant it to be nothing more than a friendly gesture but somehow knew that they were crossing a foggy boundary tonight. They would be in the hours, minutes even, to come. "He was too headstrong to be stopped, Nymph."
She gulped suppressed tears back so hard he could see the slight movement of her Adam's apple. She nodded solemnly. "Of course not."
He didn't let go of her face though, even in the silence.
He held on for dear life.
If I don't break all the lies that I make
I'll only leave them for you
If I could hear your voice on the phone
Tonks let him hold her face, feeling comforted by his quiet presence. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He would take care of her.
Something in one of her pockets started vibrating.
"Oh!" she exclaimed softly, nearly jumping up to her feet in surprise. She immediately felt around her clothing until she found the pocket with the rectangular lump. She whipped it out of her pocket and flipped it open, poking at buttons in an attempt to get the thing to stop shaking.
"I don't know how Muggles use these damn things…" she muttered, plopping back down on the ground. She tucked her feet under her and leaned against the concrete wall again.
Remus laughed silently. He recognized the contraption as a cellular phone. Mad-Eye had given him the entire history of the thing in one sitting. Remus, although always a good student and very attentive, had found it hard to pay attention. From what he remembered, they used the cellular phones now because Voldemort didn't use them (as he was violently anti-Muggles) and therefore didn't know how to infiltrate them.
In any case, he hadn't yet had to learn to use one.
Harry, Hermione and Ron knew how to. Or at least, Hermione did for sure (her parents were Muggles, after all) and Harry was at least familiar with them. Come to think of it, Remus was pretty sure Ron only pretended to know how to use one. Remus chuckled.
Tonks, who'd managed to get the thing working correctly, was just clicking the object shut again. She sighed wearily. Then she changed her appearance again. This time she looked Veela-ish.
"We're in for a long night together."
It's better then being along
Remus stretched his hands out so that they almost touched the flame. They were icy cold.
Tonks, somewhat unsure of herself, gingerly took Remus's hands in her own. She held them tightly, willing some of her warmth to travel to his body. "You'll be ice by the time we're called off the assignment," she joked quietly.
He didn't laugh, only remaining in silence as she filled his eyes. She wasn't looking at him; she was looking at his hands in hers. She was looking at them hard as if she didn't really believe what she was seeing.
"Tonks…" he started, but his voice faded quickly as he wasn't really sure of what he was going to say.
She looked at him then and bit her lip so hard he was sure she'd make herself bleed.
"You can call me Nymph," she said shyly then.
He smiled.
She leaned forward, briefly, and then she stopped. She dropped his hands and he was suddenly cold.
Again, she began watching the blue flame.
Remus sighed, not sure if he was annoyed with how the night was going or not. He looked into the great beyond. No one had shown up yet…
Then he looked at Nymphadora Tonks, realizing that the only person who mattered, the one person he felt he could truly confide in, had shown up. That meant the world to him.
He sat back and closed his eyes, feeling better than he had in a long time.
I'll light the sun
And the darkness will turn into light
Now I see the world for the first time