Thank you once again to LuckyLoo16 for reviewing! This chapter is for you (since you have been reviewing my stories for what seems like forever!)! Many thanks to LuthienGranger2004 for reviewing! It's great to see a new name…enjoy!


Part V:
Chapter 3: Sifting through the Words

For the first time

Even as she was kissing him, Tonks couldn't believe her mouth was on his. And that she had had the guts to initiate it was even more incredible. Her heart was thudding so hard in her chest, she thought she might die. But she never wanted to stop.

Remus cupped her face gently and pulled her closer to him.

There were other things, better things, than talking that her mouth was good for. He'd like to spend the rest of his life finding out each and every one of those things, too.

Somehow she'd managed to press her midriff and chest fully against him and so, when her cellular phone started vibrating again, it was felt by both of them. He was reluctant to let her go and even better, it seemed she felt the same.

She turned away before she started talking and sat back down on the ground with a loud thump. She leaned forward and Remus was privy to view a tattoo on her lower back.

He smiled upon seeing it.

Tonks was nodding and pushing at her hair as she spoke, which, when he pulled himself back into their work, he realized was probably not the best thing.

The phone slipped into her back pocket again.

When she turned, he didn't miss the serious air that surrounded her. "What?"

She was silent for a long, long time.

He peered at her, mentally trying to figure out what was going on. He imagined all the horrible possibilities but none of them seemed plausible—though they were, or perhaps he just didn't want to believe it?

Harry is dead. Ron or Hermione, maybe? Molly? Dumbledore? Had they been infiltrated? Had they missed a sign or a clue somewhere along the way?

Tonks was valiantly holding back tears.

She looked at him, her face broken. "Hermione, they…" she trailed off to take another couple of deep breaths.

Remus was too shell-shocked to say something. Hermione was dead.

Suddenly, she stood upright, though they hadn't been told they could yet do so. "Come on, Remus, we're going to St. Mungo's," she told him. Her voice was decisive. She'd made the choice to leave.

"St. Mungo's?"

She nodded. And suddenly, she wasn't Tonks anymore. She was…herself, again. She was the girl with long dark hair and a heart shaped face. "Yes, of course. Hermione and Ron will be there, of course. Harry too, I should think."

"Hermione and Ron?" he echoed weakly.

She looked at him strangely. "Remus, what are you on about? Hermione's parents were attacked tonight. We'd been fooled. They weren't coming here at all…they were hunting her parents down."

Despite the still awfulness of the situation, Remus sighed, relieved.

"What did you think had happened?" she asked after a slight pause, a moment of watching his worried face melt into relief then screw back up into worry.

He stood up. "Never mind," he said while picking up the small bag of gear he'd brought along: a pillow, a rolled blanket and some food stuffs, in case he had to wait here for a longer time then originally thought.

She started walking away, finding a safe spot to apparate.

Remus followed shortly.

I'll take all the gold I thought was mine
And I'd trade it for a minute of time

"Tonks, before we are surrounded by people, what was that back there?" he asked suddenly. His words sounded curious and somewhat anxious. As if he'd never cared about a girl like this.

She looked up at him with murky green eyes. They were flecked with gold, he noticed. There was earnestness in them he rarely saw in another as of late. She didn't look away from him.

"I care for you a lot, Remus. More than I probably should." Her gaze continued to hold. "I have for a while but with everything the way it is—I just, there was never a right time." She began fumbling for words to describe her feelings and instead of interrupting her, he let her.

"There was a time…I never wanted you to see me as only Sirius's cousin. And it's not like I meant to start feeling this way, it just sort of happened. But, well, I love you," she told him, as if it was a well known fact.

She smiled briefly, glancing away from him momentarily. "I have for a long time." She grinned when she looked at him. "You wouldn't believe how hard it's been for me these past few months to not say anything! I'm pretty damn good at keeping unimportant secrets but the important ones, well I blab those all the time!" she exclaimed.

Remus lifted an eyebrow. "What unimportant secrets?"

She shrugged carelessly. "Stuff about the Order mainly."

"You consider that unimportant?" he asked, astounded that she'd said that.

Her face screwed up in thought again. "Not necessarily unimportant, you see, but, well…they're a different kind of important, I guess."

She looked at him.

He looked back.

A slight breeze lifted her hair to his face and he caught her scent: outdoorsy but a bit gypsy-ish. It was an interesting smell. He reveled in it.

So I keep waiting

"So, I'll see you at St. Mungo's then, right?" she asked after a bit.

He opened his eyes, remembering where he was. "No," he said, shaking his head adamantly.

"No?" she repeated, dumbfounded by his response.

"No, Nymph," he said again. "I want you here with me for just a moment longer. That's all, just a moment. Then I'll wait for you as long as you like," he replied feverishly.

"What?" Her eyes were wide. "You aren't making any sense."

"Nymphadora," he began, chuckling inside when he realized he'd never called her that before (but it was worth it to see the hilariously disgusted look come across her face). His smile reached the corners of his eyes and she thought he didn't smile nearly as much as she should have.

She'd like to make him smile like that for as long as she lived.

"Nymph," he started again, this time softer, sweeter. "If I die tomorrow, or you do, I want you to know that I love you."

He saw her mouth fall open, knew she was about to argue and interrupted her before she got the chance to speak. "Would you shut up long enough for me to tell you how much I love you?"

She looked a tad offended but clamped her jaws firmly shut and nodded resolutely.

"At first, you were right; I loved you like I would a friend's sister. You were Sirius's cousin. That's it. But even before now, before Sirius died, I was attracted to you. I was attracted by the veela and by the 'Tonks' and the hair changes but what really gets to me is you. Just the way you are now, or the way you were moments ago. There's nothing I wouldn't rather do than spend the rest of my life loving you." He couldn't believe he'd managed that, being he didn't like speaking that much.

"Are you serious?" she finally questioned quietly. He saw that she doubted him.

He lifted his hand and brushed her cheek. His hand ended up tangled in the long dark tresses. "I've always been serious with you, Nymph. I love you. I have for a long time but it wasn't the right time or something."

She gave a tentative laugh. "So would you say that right now is the right time?"

I'll light the sun
And the darkness will turn into light

He shrugged, almost as nonchalantly as Sirius had once been able to. "I guess by now I figure why not? What the hell?" He pressed his forehead against hers and tugged at her hair with his other, unoccupied hand. "I'd rather go through hell with you then heaven alone."

There were tears swimming in her eyes.

Now I see the world for the first time

"Come to St. Mungo's with me to see how Hermione is doing?" she invited him with a small, hopeful smile.

He smiled back. "Of course I will."

"And then after, come back with me to my flat? I'll make you dinner…well, actually I'm not very adept at making dinner but I'm sure I can manage something…"

"That would be wonderful," he replied.

"And then maybe we could…talk, some more," she suggested.

"If that's what you want, Nymph."

She nodded. "It is what I want…then, maybe we could—

Her cellular phone started vibrating.

"Be interrupted by that blasted piece of shite equipment?" Remus offered with a wide smile and a wink.

She laughed and reached up to kiss him once again. "Yes, that was just what I was thinking."

For the first time with you

Wow. I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter (actually, the entire part) and I hope that you all had as much fun reading it! Please review and again, thank you, as always, for reading. J