Author's Notes: My goodness do I apologize! I didn't mean for the long lack of update... but... thought it might be nice for you to get used to, just didn't intend for it to be with that chapter. This chapter though... is different. I have finals this week, and I'm also trying to get this posted at FictionAlley, so this is going to be the chapter that there will probably be a little while until the next update. Don't stop reviewing though! If I get enough reviews, I'll maybe post the next chapter sooner then intended. *wink* Now... on to the show...
*****
The first thing Tonks was aware of when she woke up, was that she was floating.
"Mmm," she moaned, her eyelids fluttering open. It was silent where she was, too silent. But where was she?
Tonks spun around, then flipped over, then did a couple of breast strokes in one direction, then a couple more in the other direction. There was no up or down, but she flipped a couple of more times just to be sure.
She was in some kind of tunnel, in the center, or at least what she supposed was the center, it was a dull grey, and heading towards one direction it turned darker. At the end of that end of the tunnel was a black hole of some sorts. Heading the opposite direction it turned lighter fading into a bright white light. But it was a soothing light, and did not hurt her eyes.
"Where am I?" her voice echoed as if she were in a cavern of monstrous proportions. "Okay, think Nymphadora, think. I'm in a tunnel, and on one end... there's a dark black hole... on the other... there's a bright white light, oh shit I'm dead." She flipped around several more times. "Okay... now... this is probably where I'm supposed to decide whether I want to be a ghost... or... there." She turned. "But, I don't want to be either! I want to be alive! Hello! God? Someone? What if I don't want either?"
Silence.
"Fine then," she crossed her arms across her chest. "I'll just stay right here until you give me back my life, thank you very much." She crossed her legs, and hovered, her chin up and eyes closed in a very defiant pose.
Suddenly she started moving.
"What?" It was like the light was pulling her, she tried to resist by swimming, but it just pulled her harder. "No! I don't want to! You can't make me! I want to be alive! Stop! Stop!"
She swam as hard as she possibly could, but it was no use, the light was just getting closer and closer until...
The tunnel ripped open, or something like that happened. She saw a giant tear above her and blue, lots and lots of blue. It seemed as if all the air was being pulled from the tunnel place, she couldn't breathe. Try as she might, the air was getting pulled out of her lungs as well, she was going to suffocate? But how could she if she was already dead? Her vision began getting fuzzy with her strange lack of oxygen. Dots were dancing in front of her eyes, until there was nothing there anymore. Her mind followed quickly after...
"Remus, you must let go of her," Albus spoke softly to the sobbing man at his feet.
"I can't, she's not dead. I just got her, I'm not letting go," Remus cried, burying his face in his love's hair. "I lost Sirius, I'm not losing her!"
"There's nothing we can do anymore, there's no surviving the Killing Curse, you know that," Albus knelt beside his fellow.
"I know that, Albus," snarled Remus, turning his back on his mentor and holding Tonks closer, not allowing Dumbledore anywhere near her. "Why did they take her from me! She was the one good thing still in my life... and now... and now..." He sobbed even harder.
Dumbledore stood back up, deciding to give Remus a little more time with his lost love. Turning to walk away and help the others he glanced back at Tonks and Remus one last time, but a glitter of red and gold caught his eye. He stepped back to Tonks' body and reached to her hand.
"I told you, you're not having her!" Remus hissed. Dumbledore shot him a silencing look, and brought Tonks' hand closer.
Clutched within it, was a red and gold feather. A long, full Phoenix tail feather. Fawkes' own feather. So that was how he had gotten here. With Tonks well in tow. Dumbledore yanked the feather out of her dead grasp and studied it closer.
Upon a closer inspection he saw that the side that had been against Tonks' palm appeared to be charred a bit, as if someone had taken a candle and held it just near the feather. He looked at Tonks's hand which he was still holding. Just barely there, like a light sketch in red pencil, was the imprint of the feather, detailed, yet not. Maybe, just maybe... A thought, a flicker of an idea. It could be possible. He studied Tonks' face for the slightest bit of movement. It was a possibility... wasn't it? In this world of magic, anything could happen.
And then it happened. She jerked up, clawing the air madly, her face in a silent scream, gulping for air as if it were the last she would ever get.
"Nymphadora!" Remus exclaimed, his tears stopping in shock. Oxygen now returned to her body, she did the only thing her brain was telling her to do. She screamed loud, shrill, and strong. Remus wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight, whispering soothing words with no meaning into her ear to calm her down.
By the time she eventually had calmed down many other Order members had ran out with their wands raised high prepared for another attack. But upon seeing Remus holding Tonks they lowered their wands and stood in place in a stunned silence. The only noise was Remus' murmers, and Tonks' choking sobs. McGonagall was the first one to speak.
"But, Albus, how is this possible? She was hit with the Killing Curse, Bill Weasley saw it!" she whispered.
"I believe it was this, Minerva," Dumbledore said holding up the Phoenix feather. "And I believe that we may just have a way to beat the Killing Curse. In an hour I want all those of able body and mind back in the Hall. We're having an emergency meeting. Miss Tonks, are the two Weasley's, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter in my office?"
Between her sobs, Tonks managed a small "yes".
"Very well, Minerva, I leave you to take care of things here, Remus, get her to her room and put her to rest then contact Healer Abberd, he is Miss Tonks' Healer in care of the baby." By then Fawkes had flown over and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. He gave everyone one last imploring look then grabbed the Phoenix's tale and in a burst of flames was gone.
Tonks barely weighed anything in Remus' arms, giving a sad look to every one watching him, he carried his love up the stairs and to her room, vowing in his heart to never lose her again.
***
Tonks woke hours later from a deep sleep with the pale light of the near full moon shining on her face. She began to roll over, but a warm body next to her stopped her. Instead she turned her head to see Remus lying beside her, asleep, and looking more handsome than ever. She smiled in spite of the terrifying experience she went through earlier and fully turned over, the movement of the bed waking him.
"You're up," he said, shaking off all weariness. "How are you feeling?"
"Full," she responded. Remus looked at her quizzically.
"Full?"
"Yeah, my... my brain feels full," she said, putting her hand to her head.
"Then, you should go back to sleep," Remus said.
"No, it's too full for sleep," Tonks said. "It's full in the sense... I know too much. There's something there, and it's confusing me."
"Sleep should help that-"
"But I'm not tired!" Tonks hissed.
"Sorry, I'm just trying to make you feel better," Remus apologized.
"I know, I know... but still, I'm just confused," she finished lamely. They sat in silence for a moment, and Tonks noticed that while she was under the sheets clad in an overly-large work shirt, Remus was still fully dressed and lying above the sheets.
"Afraid of me?"
Remus noticed what she was talking about.
"I just found, given the circumstances, it was inappropriate," he replied, unabashed.
"You're sweet," she said leaning over to kiss him.
*FLASH*
...human eyes of brown and amber changed to the eyes of an animal, brown and yellow...
*FLASH*
...anger, boiling fury, flaming rage...
*FLASH*
...flames everywhere, a house engulfed in the red demon, a glowing skull in the sky above...
*FLASH*
Tonks gasped and jerked back.
"Nymphadora?" Remus asked. "Nymphadora, what's wrong, what happened?"
"I-I don't... I saw- I saw..." she trailed off, trembling in fear staring at Remus. What had she seen? Just before she was to kiss him, a series of images, in a matter of seconds, flashed before her eyes.
"What did you see?" Remus asked, taking Tonks by the shoulders and forcing her to look in his eyes. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, forcing the images back up.
"Eyes, your eyes, changing to wolf eyes... just, anger, I saw anger... and a house... a house in flames with the Dark Mark above it," she said, slowly recalling them and trying to describe. She opened her eyes again to see Remus staring at her in shock. He closed his mouth and began studying her slightly, and idea obviously running through his head. But whatever he was thinking, he didn't tell her.
"You really need to sleep now, Nymphadora," he said, getting up and gently pushing her back against the pillows.
"But- Remus, what were they? Why did I see them?" Tonks protested.
"Shhh, sleep, we'll discuss it in the morning after you sleep on it-"
"I don't want to sleep on it!" she exclaimed, jerking up and throwing off the covers. "What's going on? What about my baby? How did Death Eaters get into Headquarters? Remus, talk to me!" Tonks was yelling at the top of her lungs, and was near breaking into tears. The bedroom door opened, and a sleepy Harry hurried in, the figures of other people close behind him.
"Tonks? Remus? What's going on?" he asked.
"Harry, go back to bed, I've got everything un-"
"What is he doing out of Hogwarts?" Tonks screamed. "He shouldn't be here! You-Know-Who knows where he is now!"
"Nymphadora, hush, we aren't at Grimmauld Place right-"
"Don't tell me to hush! What's going on? I'm... I'm so tired," she ran out of energy, and sunk to the floor, sobs racking her body. "My baby, what about my baby?"
"The baby is alive and well, just as you are, Nymphadora," Remus said, kneeling down next to her and holding her tightly, rocking her back and forth.
"Remus," she murmered, running her hand up and down his arm and putting her whole weight against him. "Remus... Remus..." She continued muttering his name, until she finally fell back to sleep.
Molly Weasley quickly came into the room, helping Remus tuck Tonks back in.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Remus said, turning to Harry, who was looking at Tonks' still figure.
"Dumbledore said she died," he said.
"She did."
"With the Killing Curse."
"Yes."
"But, that the Phoenix feather saved her."
"Again, correct. Dumbledore has been holding no information from you, no need to worry." A small smile flitted across Harry's face.
"Will she be all right?"
"Given time, she will. Tonks is a very strong woman, she won't give up any time soon," Remus patted Harry on the back and turned him to head back to his own room. "You should get some sleep yourself Harry, we start your extra defense training tomorrow afternoon, and you're going to need all the rest you can get."
"All right, I'll see you in the morning, Remus," Harry smiled. "Good night, Mrs. Weasley."
"Good night, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. Minutes later, she too left the room, leaving Remus to lay himself beside his child's mother and stare at the nearly fully waxed moon and realize it would be another three days before he could do this again.
***
"Good morning," Tonks smiled warmly as Remus entered her room carrying a tray laden with food. "What's this?"
"Cheerios," Remus told her.
"Good morning," she said offhandedly, looking over the rest of the contents of her breakfast.
"No, no, that's what the cereal is called," Remus said. Tonks looked up at him and blinked.
"Oh." She paused. "I don't think I can eat all this."
"No worries, just eat what you can," Remus sat down next to her.
"So, where are we?" she asked, taking a bite out of her toast and remembering Remus had said they were no longer at Grimmauld Place.
"My old family haunt," Remus explained.
"I see... Why didn't we use that before hand?"
"Because Lupin Lodge-" (Tonks snorted, "Sorry, continue.") "-is deep in the woods and in a very secluded region. It would just be too inconvenient for members of the Order to get here. Even with Apparating and what not."
"Who's left?" she switched to the topic she was most curious of.
"Suprisingly a lot," Remus said, rubbing his hands across his knees. "Despite the fact the Death Eaters caught us completely off guard, we only lost six."
"How did they find out about Headquarters and our meeting?"
"My, you're a little topic changer," Remus laughed, ducking the bran muffin chucked at his head.
"Shut up and talk."
"Sorry, well to put it simply... Narcissa."
"What about her?"
"See the downside of Secret Keeping for a place, is that it doesn't move from where it was. Your aunt remembered about Grimmauld Place and thanks to the now deceased Kreacher, she managed to get word to Voldemort about where the house was located," he started. "Since your aunt knew the address, she could tell it to the Death Eaters, thus, they could see it. They had people stationed around it's general location in order to notify others when there was a large meeting. Sure enough when the first Member left... the Death Eaters moved in."
"But, how did they get in?"
"That's what Dumbledore is still trying to figure out," Remus sighed. "He's rather busy now with his new defense method against the Killing Curse."
"What?"
"You revealed a way the Killing Curse might be able to be beaten."
"How?"
"When Fawkes left you, he left behind one of his feathers which you held on to when you were cursed. I guess the magical properties in that feather held enough power to bear the brunt of the death. While you did die, it still was absorbing more of the curse, until it pulled you back."
"Wow. But, obviously we can't pluck Fawkes for all his feathers," she laughed, sipping her pumpkin juice.
"No, we can't," Remus conceded. "Phoenix feathers automatically replace themselves when pulled, or purposely left, just not when they're molting to die. But Charlie Weasley and Hagrid have already been sent out to try and get a few more Phoenix's, while Dumbledore is commissioning Severus Snape to develop some sort of potion to work with the feather."
"I'm guessing this was all discussed at the meeting?" Tonks asked glumly.
"It was... but be glad you weren't there. It was rather emotional," Remus patted her gently on the back.
"Who did we lose?" she asked.
"Alana Deerborne, Sam Bonabeer, Julius Hooster, Amanda Duke, Jamie and Taylor Ferlic," he replied sadly.
"Oh, my God, they were just married!"
"I know."
After a moment of silence, Tonks finally spoke up agian.
"Well, I can't eat any more," she said pushing her tray back.
"But you barely touched it," Remus argued.
"I know, but, I'm just not hungry. I probably will be later... but I think death gives you sort of a lack of appetite," she smiled.
"Please don't joke about that," he said somberly. Her smile quickly fell.
"Sorry," she said, then tried to cheer him up. "So you want to show me around?"
He glanced down at her rather unkempt appearance.
"That is, after I get ready," she grinned sheepishly.
***
"This is the-"
"Kitchen. I kind of could tell by the stove. Ooh! A fridge!" Tonks ran over and quickly began rummaging through it.
"I thought you weren't hungry," Remus smirked from the open doorway.
"Showering makes me hungry," Tonks said opening up a cup of yogurt and searching through the drawers of the large kitchen for a spoon.
"What do you do in there?" Remus asked, magicking open the correct drawer.
"I smell the sponge," Tonks smiled and began slurping up her yogurt.
"You... what?" Remus cocked his head to the side and stared at her curiously.
"I smell the sponge," she stated matter of factly. "Now, let's see the rest of the house."
She began reaching to another door opposite the kitchen enterance, but Remus stopped her.
"Not in there," he said seriously.
"Why? What's in there?" she glanced at him and then the door.
"It's the cellar. It's the place that's always been used for my transformations," he said sadly.
"Oh."
"Please, don't ever go in there, I don't want you to see anything down there."
"But it can't be-"
"No!" he said more forcefully then he intended. "Just don't go down there!"
"Okay!" she exclaimed. "Sorry."
She turned and headed the opposite direction.
"Nymphadora-"
"Don't call me that," she sniped, then did an about face and huffed off, tripping and falling on her face over an upturned edge of the carpet. She began to cry.
"Nymphadora, are you all right?" Remus asked, shocked that she was crying when she fell like that so often. He ran over and helped her up into a sitting position.
"I- I- I WANTED IT TO BE A DRAMATIC EXIT!" she wailed. Remus couldn't help it. He laughed.
***
Tonks couldn't sleep. Try as she might, it was that bit of Remus in her that wasn't allowing her to sleep. She was also really hungry.
Deciding to see if there was any left over spaghetti from dinner that night, she rolled out of bed, her tiny pink, lace nightie slipping back into it's correct position. She decided to start wearing all her "lingerie" as much as possible before she lost her girly figure for a woman's figure.
Tip toeing down the hall a door creaked open and a ray of moon light shone out, followed by a head of messy black hair.
"I was hoping someone else couldn't sleep," Harry said, smiling at Tonks. His smiled fell quickly and was replaced by a blush to match Tonks's own.
"Let me go put on a dressing gown," Tonks mumbled, running back to her room with as much modesty as she could muster. Harry only stared after her, a little more manly than he had been a second ago.
***
"Oh, Charlie Weasley and I were always getting into trouble!" Tonks laughed with Harry over re-heated noodles in the kitchen. "We were inseperable."
"That really must have made your aunts mad, you being in Gryffindor," Harry said.
"Oh, I think that's what put my aunts over the edge," Tonks giggled. "The Sorting Hat knew my bloodline... even my mother had been in Slytherin... second direct Black decendent put in Gryffindor, Sirius being the first, I think. That's probably when my great-aunt, Sirius' mum, officially disowned my mum and I by blasting us off the family tree." She looked glumly down at her spaghetti.
"So, are you excited about the baby?" Harry changed the topic.
"I don't know. It hasn't set in that much. At moments it will hit me, but most of the time... I don't like to think about it," Tonks said.
"Sorry," Harry yawned. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired, I'm going to give sleep another shot."
"Good luck," Tonks commiserated. Harry hadn't been sleeping that well lately.
"Thanks."
She sat in silence and watched the last of him disappear up the stairs. Once Harry was out of sight she quickly jumped up and walked over to the cellar door, her hand hovering just above the handle, debating whether or not to go down there. She knew no matter what she encountered, she was safe, she studied about Wolfsbane Potion and basically it puts the drinker into a deep sleep throughout the time of transformation.
"Wolfie," she whispered softly...
The transformation out of wolfhood was painful for the Wolfsbane had worn off by then, and left Remus tired, over-exerted, and lonely. He put himself within a cage down in the cellar, and looking through the bars the sight of stone cold wall usually greeted him. But not this morning, the dark sparkling eyes of Nymphadora Tonks greeted his with a smile. He was too lonely and too in love to reprimand her. So instead, he unlocked the cage and welcomed her with open arms. They slept like that the rest of the morning.
*****
Ending Notes: There, for those of you who appear to be highly allergic to cliffhangers, that ending should make you very happy. Just remember, there will probably be another, rather large gap in updating for the next chapter, but don't let that stop you reviewing, like I said earlier. I don't have much else to say except...
Thank You's: ChinoYaEejit, mrscribble, Moony Lover, Katie Bell, Chaser, Jestana, Captein Amelia, wmlaw (n.s.i.), Fiery Phoenix, The French Rabbi, nycgrl, Emmy-Chan, siriusblack1007, Spikey the Neon Blowfish, little-lost-one, Nymphie Lupin, Sunflower, kazza, Marauder Pawsly, jordy-n-peyts mama, and of course to anyone else who last reviewed and I may have forgotten! Thank you for keeping me happy and ready to write.
Preview: I've decided to give you guys previews for the next chapter because I love you and you review for me. If you don't want to see the preview, don't scroll down...
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"B-but, you're not supposed to use your abilities!" Remus finally came to.
"I know so-"
"You could have greviously hurt the child!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted in anger.
"But I-"
"What were you thinking?" Remus asked.
"I was-"
She was what? What was she thinking? What did she do? Stay tuned. Same bat time- er... sorry... um... yeah... what was she thinking?
The first thing Tonks was aware of when she woke up, was that she was floating.
"Mmm," she moaned, her eyelids fluttering open. It was silent where she was, too silent. But where was she?
Tonks spun around, then flipped over, then did a couple of breast strokes in one direction, then a couple more in the other direction. There was no up or down, but she flipped a couple of more times just to be sure.
She was in some kind of tunnel, in the center, or at least what she supposed was the center, it was a dull grey, and heading towards one direction it turned darker. At the end of that end of the tunnel was a black hole of some sorts. Heading the opposite direction it turned lighter fading into a bright white light. But it was a soothing light, and did not hurt her eyes.
"Where am I?" her voice echoed as if she were in a cavern of monstrous proportions. "Okay, think Nymphadora, think. I'm in a tunnel, and on one end... there's a dark black hole... on the other... there's a bright white light, oh shit I'm dead." She flipped around several more times. "Okay... now... this is probably where I'm supposed to decide whether I want to be a ghost... or... there." She turned. "But, I don't want to be either! I want to be alive! Hello! God? Someone? What if I don't want either?"
Silence.
"Fine then," she crossed her arms across her chest. "I'll just stay right here until you give me back my life, thank you very much." She crossed her legs, and hovered, her chin up and eyes closed in a very defiant pose.
Suddenly she started moving.
"What?" It was like the light was pulling her, she tried to resist by swimming, but it just pulled her harder. "No! I don't want to! You can't make me! I want to be alive! Stop! Stop!"
She swam as hard as she possibly could, but it was no use, the light was just getting closer and closer until...
The tunnel ripped open, or something like that happened. She saw a giant tear above her and blue, lots and lots of blue. It seemed as if all the air was being pulled from the tunnel place, she couldn't breathe. Try as she might, the air was getting pulled out of her lungs as well, she was going to suffocate? But how could she if she was already dead? Her vision began getting fuzzy with her strange lack of oxygen. Dots were dancing in front of her eyes, until there was nothing there anymore. Her mind followed quickly after...
"Remus, you must let go of her," Albus spoke softly to the sobbing man at his feet.
"I can't, she's not dead. I just got her, I'm not letting go," Remus cried, burying his face in his love's hair. "I lost Sirius, I'm not losing her!"
"There's nothing we can do anymore, there's no surviving the Killing Curse, you know that," Albus knelt beside his fellow.
"I know that, Albus," snarled Remus, turning his back on his mentor and holding Tonks closer, not allowing Dumbledore anywhere near her. "Why did they take her from me! She was the one good thing still in my life... and now... and now..." He sobbed even harder.
Dumbledore stood back up, deciding to give Remus a little more time with his lost love. Turning to walk away and help the others he glanced back at Tonks and Remus one last time, but a glitter of red and gold caught his eye. He stepped back to Tonks' body and reached to her hand.
"I told you, you're not having her!" Remus hissed. Dumbledore shot him a silencing look, and brought Tonks' hand closer.
Clutched within it, was a red and gold feather. A long, full Phoenix tail feather. Fawkes' own feather. So that was how he had gotten here. With Tonks well in tow. Dumbledore yanked the feather out of her dead grasp and studied it closer.
Upon a closer inspection he saw that the side that had been against Tonks' palm appeared to be charred a bit, as if someone had taken a candle and held it just near the feather. He looked at Tonks's hand which he was still holding. Just barely there, like a light sketch in red pencil, was the imprint of the feather, detailed, yet not. Maybe, just maybe... A thought, a flicker of an idea. It could be possible. He studied Tonks' face for the slightest bit of movement. It was a possibility... wasn't it? In this world of magic, anything could happen.
And then it happened. She jerked up, clawing the air madly, her face in a silent scream, gulping for air as if it were the last she would ever get.
"Nymphadora!" Remus exclaimed, his tears stopping in shock. Oxygen now returned to her body, she did the only thing her brain was telling her to do. She screamed loud, shrill, and strong. Remus wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight, whispering soothing words with no meaning into her ear to calm her down.
By the time she eventually had calmed down many other Order members had ran out with their wands raised high prepared for another attack. But upon seeing Remus holding Tonks they lowered their wands and stood in place in a stunned silence. The only noise was Remus' murmers, and Tonks' choking sobs. McGonagall was the first one to speak.
"But, Albus, how is this possible? She was hit with the Killing Curse, Bill Weasley saw it!" she whispered.
"I believe it was this, Minerva," Dumbledore said holding up the Phoenix feather. "And I believe that we may just have a way to beat the Killing Curse. In an hour I want all those of able body and mind back in the Hall. We're having an emergency meeting. Miss Tonks, are the two Weasley's, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter in my office?"
Between her sobs, Tonks managed a small "yes".
"Very well, Minerva, I leave you to take care of things here, Remus, get her to her room and put her to rest then contact Healer Abberd, he is Miss Tonks' Healer in care of the baby." By then Fawkes had flown over and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder. He gave everyone one last imploring look then grabbed the Phoenix's tale and in a burst of flames was gone.
Tonks barely weighed anything in Remus' arms, giving a sad look to every one watching him, he carried his love up the stairs and to her room, vowing in his heart to never lose her again.
Tonks woke hours later from a deep sleep with the pale light of the near full moon shining on her face. She began to roll over, but a warm body next to her stopped her. Instead she turned her head to see Remus lying beside her, asleep, and looking more handsome than ever. She smiled in spite of the terrifying experience she went through earlier and fully turned over, the movement of the bed waking him.
"You're up," he said, shaking off all weariness. "How are you feeling?"
"Full," she responded. Remus looked at her quizzically.
"Full?"
"Yeah, my... my brain feels full," she said, putting her hand to her head.
"Then, you should go back to sleep," Remus said.
"No, it's too full for sleep," Tonks said. "It's full in the sense... I know too much. There's something there, and it's confusing me."
"Sleep should help that-"
"But I'm not tired!" Tonks hissed.
"Sorry, I'm just trying to make you feel better," Remus apologized.
"I know, I know... but still, I'm just confused," she finished lamely. They sat in silence for a moment, and Tonks noticed that while she was under the sheets clad in an overly-large work shirt, Remus was still fully dressed and lying above the sheets.
"Afraid of me?"
Remus noticed what she was talking about.
"I just found, given the circumstances, it was inappropriate," he replied, unabashed.
"You're sweet," she said leaning over to kiss him.
*FLASH*
...human eyes of brown and amber changed to the eyes of an animal, brown and yellow...
*FLASH*
...anger, boiling fury, flaming rage...
*FLASH*
...flames everywhere, a house engulfed in the red demon, a glowing skull in the sky above...
*FLASH*
Tonks gasped and jerked back.
"Nymphadora?" Remus asked. "Nymphadora, what's wrong, what happened?"
"I-I don't... I saw- I saw..." she trailed off, trembling in fear staring at Remus. What had she seen? Just before she was to kiss him, a series of images, in a matter of seconds, flashed before her eyes.
"What did you see?" Remus asked, taking Tonks by the shoulders and forcing her to look in his eyes. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, forcing the images back up.
"Eyes, your eyes, changing to wolf eyes... just, anger, I saw anger... and a house... a house in flames with the Dark Mark above it," she said, slowly recalling them and trying to describe. She opened her eyes again to see Remus staring at her in shock. He closed his mouth and began studying her slightly, and idea obviously running through his head. But whatever he was thinking, he didn't tell her.
"You really need to sleep now, Nymphadora," he said, getting up and gently pushing her back against the pillows.
"But- Remus, what were they? Why did I see them?" Tonks protested.
"Shhh, sleep, we'll discuss it in the morning after you sleep on it-"
"I don't want to sleep on it!" she exclaimed, jerking up and throwing off the covers. "What's going on? What about my baby? How did Death Eaters get into Headquarters? Remus, talk to me!" Tonks was yelling at the top of her lungs, and was near breaking into tears. The bedroom door opened, and a sleepy Harry hurried in, the figures of other people close behind him.
"Tonks? Remus? What's going on?" he asked.
"Harry, go back to bed, I've got everything un-"
"What is he doing out of Hogwarts?" Tonks screamed. "He shouldn't be here! You-Know-Who knows where he is now!"
"Nymphadora, hush, we aren't at Grimmauld Place right-"
"Don't tell me to hush! What's going on? I'm... I'm so tired," she ran out of energy, and sunk to the floor, sobs racking her body. "My baby, what about my baby?"
"The baby is alive and well, just as you are, Nymphadora," Remus said, kneeling down next to her and holding her tightly, rocking her back and forth.
"Remus," she murmered, running her hand up and down his arm and putting her whole weight against him. "Remus... Remus..." She continued muttering his name, until she finally fell back to sleep.
Molly Weasley quickly came into the room, helping Remus tuck Tonks back in.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Remus said, turning to Harry, who was looking at Tonks' still figure.
"Dumbledore said she died," he said.
"She did."
"With the Killing Curse."
"Yes."
"But, that the Phoenix feather saved her."
"Again, correct. Dumbledore has been holding no information from you, no need to worry." A small smile flitted across Harry's face.
"Will she be all right?"
"Given time, she will. Tonks is a very strong woman, she won't give up any time soon," Remus patted Harry on the back and turned him to head back to his own room. "You should get some sleep yourself Harry, we start your extra defense training tomorrow afternoon, and you're going to need all the rest you can get."
"All right, I'll see you in the morning, Remus," Harry smiled. "Good night, Mrs. Weasley."
"Good night, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. Minutes later, she too left the room, leaving Remus to lay himself beside his child's mother and stare at the nearly fully waxed moon and realize it would be another three days before he could do this again.
"Good morning," Tonks smiled warmly as Remus entered her room carrying a tray laden with food. "What's this?"
"Cheerios," Remus told her.
"Good morning," she said offhandedly, looking over the rest of the contents of her breakfast.
"No, no, that's what the cereal is called," Remus said. Tonks looked up at him and blinked.
"Oh." She paused. "I don't think I can eat all this."
"No worries, just eat what you can," Remus sat down next to her.
"So, where are we?" she asked, taking a bite out of her toast and remembering Remus had said they were no longer at Grimmauld Place.
"My old family haunt," Remus explained.
"I see... Why didn't we use that before hand?"
"Because Lupin Lodge-" (Tonks snorted, "Sorry, continue.") "-is deep in the woods and in a very secluded region. It would just be too inconvenient for members of the Order to get here. Even with Apparating and what not."
"Who's left?" she switched to the topic she was most curious of.
"Suprisingly a lot," Remus said, rubbing his hands across his knees. "Despite the fact the Death Eaters caught us completely off guard, we only lost six."
"How did they find out about Headquarters and our meeting?"
"My, you're a little topic changer," Remus laughed, ducking the bran muffin chucked at his head.
"Shut up and talk."
"Sorry, well to put it simply... Narcissa."
"What about her?"
"See the downside of Secret Keeping for a place, is that it doesn't move from where it was. Your aunt remembered about Grimmauld Place and thanks to the now deceased Kreacher, she managed to get word to Voldemort about where the house was located," he started. "Since your aunt knew the address, she could tell it to the Death Eaters, thus, they could see it. They had people stationed around it's general location in order to notify others when there was a large meeting. Sure enough when the first Member left... the Death Eaters moved in."
"But, how did they get in?"
"That's what Dumbledore is still trying to figure out," Remus sighed. "He's rather busy now with his new defense method against the Killing Curse."
"What?"
"You revealed a way the Killing Curse might be able to be beaten."
"How?"
"When Fawkes left you, he left behind one of his feathers which you held on to when you were cursed. I guess the magical properties in that feather held enough power to bear the brunt of the death. While you did die, it still was absorbing more of the curse, until it pulled you back."
"Wow. But, obviously we can't pluck Fawkes for all his feathers," she laughed, sipping her pumpkin juice.
"No, we can't," Remus conceded. "Phoenix feathers automatically replace themselves when pulled, or purposely left, just not when they're molting to die. But Charlie Weasley and Hagrid have already been sent out to try and get a few more Phoenix's, while Dumbledore is commissioning Severus Snape to develop some sort of potion to work with the feather."
"I'm guessing this was all discussed at the meeting?" Tonks asked glumly.
"It was... but be glad you weren't there. It was rather emotional," Remus patted her gently on the back.
"Who did we lose?" she asked.
"Alana Deerborne, Sam Bonabeer, Julius Hooster, Amanda Duke, Jamie and Taylor Ferlic," he replied sadly.
"Oh, my God, they were just married!"
"I know."
After a moment of silence, Tonks finally spoke up agian.
"Well, I can't eat any more," she said pushing her tray back.
"But you barely touched it," Remus argued.
"I know, but, I'm just not hungry. I probably will be later... but I think death gives you sort of a lack of appetite," she smiled.
"Please don't joke about that," he said somberly. Her smile quickly fell.
"Sorry," she said, then tried to cheer him up. "So you want to show me around?"
He glanced down at her rather unkempt appearance.
"That is, after I get ready," she grinned sheepishly.
"This is the-"
"Kitchen. I kind of could tell by the stove. Ooh! A fridge!" Tonks ran over and quickly began rummaging through it.
"I thought you weren't hungry," Remus smirked from the open doorway.
"Showering makes me hungry," Tonks said opening up a cup of yogurt and searching through the drawers of the large kitchen for a spoon.
"What do you do in there?" Remus asked, magicking open the correct drawer.
"I smell the sponge," Tonks smiled and began slurping up her yogurt.
"You... what?" Remus cocked his head to the side and stared at her curiously.
"I smell the sponge," she stated matter of factly. "Now, let's see the rest of the house."
She began reaching to another door opposite the kitchen enterance, but Remus stopped her.
"Not in there," he said seriously.
"Why? What's in there?" she glanced at him and then the door.
"It's the cellar. It's the place that's always been used for my transformations," he said sadly.
"Oh."
"Please, don't ever go in there, I don't want you to see anything down there."
"But it can't be-"
"No!" he said more forcefully then he intended. "Just don't go down there!"
"Okay!" she exclaimed. "Sorry."
She turned and headed the opposite direction.
"Nymphadora-"
"Don't call me that," she sniped, then did an about face and huffed off, tripping and falling on her face over an upturned edge of the carpet. She began to cry.
"Nymphadora, are you all right?" Remus asked, shocked that she was crying when she fell like that so often. He ran over and helped her up into a sitting position.
"I- I- I WANTED IT TO BE A DRAMATIC EXIT!" she wailed. Remus couldn't help it. He laughed.
Tonks couldn't sleep. Try as she might, it was that bit of Remus in her that wasn't allowing her to sleep. She was also really hungry.
Deciding to see if there was any left over spaghetti from dinner that night, she rolled out of bed, her tiny pink, lace nightie slipping back into it's correct position. She decided to start wearing all her "lingerie" as much as possible before she lost her girly figure for a woman's figure.
Tip toeing down the hall a door creaked open and a ray of moon light shone out, followed by a head of messy black hair.
"I was hoping someone else couldn't sleep," Harry said, smiling at Tonks. His smiled fell quickly and was replaced by a blush to match Tonks's own.
"Let me go put on a dressing gown," Tonks mumbled, running back to her room with as much modesty as she could muster. Harry only stared after her, a little more manly than he had been a second ago.
"Oh, Charlie Weasley and I were always getting into trouble!" Tonks laughed with Harry over re-heated noodles in the kitchen. "We were inseperable."
"That really must have made your aunts mad, you being in Gryffindor," Harry said.
"Oh, I think that's what put my aunts over the edge," Tonks giggled. "The Sorting Hat knew my bloodline... even my mother had been in Slytherin... second direct Black decendent put in Gryffindor, Sirius being the first, I think. That's probably when my great-aunt, Sirius' mum, officially disowned my mum and I by blasting us off the family tree." She looked glumly down at her spaghetti.
"So, are you excited about the baby?" Harry changed the topic.
"I don't know. It hasn't set in that much. At moments it will hit me, but most of the time... I don't like to think about it," Tonks said.
"Sorry," Harry yawned. "Well, I'm getting pretty tired, I'm going to give sleep another shot."
"Good luck," Tonks commiserated. Harry hadn't been sleeping that well lately.
"Thanks."
She sat in silence and watched the last of him disappear up the stairs. Once Harry was out of sight she quickly jumped up and walked over to the cellar door, her hand hovering just above the handle, debating whether or not to go down there. She knew no matter what she encountered, she was safe, she studied about Wolfsbane Potion and basically it puts the drinker into a deep sleep throughout the time of transformation.
"Wolfie," she whispered softly...
The transformation out of wolfhood was painful for the Wolfsbane had worn off by then, and left Remus tired, over-exerted, and lonely. He put himself within a cage down in the cellar, and looking through the bars the sight of stone cold wall usually greeted him. But not this morning, the dark sparkling eyes of Nymphadora Tonks greeted his with a smile. He was too lonely and too in love to reprimand her. So instead, he unlocked the cage and welcomed her with open arms. They slept like that the rest of the morning.
Thank You's: ChinoYaEejit, mrscribble, Moony Lover, Katie Bell, Chaser, Jestana, Captein Amelia, wmlaw (n.s.i.), Fiery Phoenix, The French Rabbi, nycgrl, Emmy-Chan, siriusblack1007, Spikey the Neon Blowfish, little-lost-one, Nymphie Lupin, Sunflower, kazza, Marauder Pawsly, jordy-n-peyts mama, and of course to anyone else who last reviewed and I may have forgotten! Thank you for keeping me happy and ready to write.
Preview: I've decided to give you guys previews for the next chapter because I love you and you review for me. If you don't want to see the preview, don't scroll down...
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"B-but, you're not supposed to use your abilities!" Remus finally came to.
"I know so-"
"You could have greviously hurt the child!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted in anger.
"But I-"
"What were you thinking?" Remus asked.
"I was-"
She was what? What was she thinking? What did she do? Stay tuned. Same bat time- er... sorry... um... yeah... what was she thinking?