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Strong like You

(Chapter 2)

If the sticky summer days at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, had seemed entirely too long and unbearable before, those which immediately followed the incident in the kitchen could easily be classified as pure torture. Though both continued to live primarily at the Black estate, Remus and Tonks barely acknowledged one another's existence, and with Molly's brood back in the Burrow and the rest of the usual inhabitants out on Order business, the silence made the already destitute house seem even gloomier. On the rare occasions when they actually dared to speak, it was usually just a few words, in passing, on the odd weather or the state of the war, ending in awkward silence and someone promptly walking away.

While Remus Lupin had never been eager to show his thoughts or feelings to the world, never before had Tonks seen him so forbidding. He drifted wordlessly between his room, the kitchen, and the parlor, refusing to allow any mark of humanity escape the stony façade he had erected. She must have done something truly awful to warrant this kind of response from such a notoriously forgiving man. It was too bad she hadn't the faintest idea of what that could have been…

Truthfully, the silence was driving Tonks completely out of her head. Without the blissful distraction of idle chitchat, she could feel each minute slowly ticking by…feel her stomach twist into knots of frustration…feel the eyes of a hundred ghosts resting solely on her…she could feel, and with Sirius' death so fresh in her memory, feeling was the very last thing she wanted to do. This madness had to end.

Suddenly alert, the witch rose from her perch on her bedroom windowsill, and quickly descended the stairs, each step assertive and filled with purpose as she neared the living room, where Remus spent his evenings. But as the bottom step loomed ever closer, Tonks suddenly had to start mumbling words of encouragement to herself, trying to scrounge up every last bit of patience and tact she possessed to help get her through that door…

…Her heart raced as she ducked into the darkened kitchen, inwardly cursing herself for being such a ninny. It was only Remus, Tonks reminded herself, withdrawing her wand from her jeans to conjure up some tea for herself, since she was already in there and wasn't allowed so much as a glance at the stove, unsupervised.

"What's the worst he could do?"

Remus didn't have to look up to know that Tonks had just walked into the room. He had heard her muttering in the hall and making a fuss in the kitchen, and, besides, his luck had been too awful as of late to allow him a moment's peace.

Discreetly glancing upward, he watched her nursing her cup of tea with both hands as she cautiously moved to the wingback chair, opposite his, by the fire. If he hadn't been so thoroughly shaken by the appearance, Remus probably would have found the focused effort to combat her clumsiness side-splittingly funny. But after days of calculated silence and avoidance, the witch was purposely placing herself in his vicinity, which could mean only one thing: intervention.

"So, what have you got there?" Tonks asked, glancing at the open volume he was so thoroughly engrossed in from over the rim of her teacup. While it wasn't exactly the most original conversation starter, it would have to do.

Remus let out an exasperated sigh, wanting so desperately to tell her that she should just say what she'd come to say or leave him in peace. Stifling the urge, he replied, evenly, "Certainly nothing that you would find of any interest, Nymphadora."

Her mouth dropped open at his words, which were so unusually condescending and not like Remus at all, and in this newfound burst of rage she slammed the unfortunate little cup back down on its saucer and set it on the table. "And how would you know, Remus, considering you hardly ever speak to me anymore?!"

"Come on, Tonks. I've known you since you were a kid, so don't give me that rubbish. If you must know, the book is entitled 'Pogrebins and You', though I don't know why you care."

The title seemed decidedly dull indeed, but she wasn't about to let him know that after he had the gall to say such awful things to her. Jumping to her feet, she grabbed the open volume from his lap, tossed it to the ground, and shouted, "Remus J. Lupin, just because I'm not a boring, unfeeling git, who'd prefer a life full of inanimate nothings to actual human interaction, that doesn't mean I'm a complete moron!"

Her voice lowered dangerously as she turned her brimming eyes from him to the dancing flames in the hearth and added, "I care about a hell of a lot more than you'd ever know."

"Tonks, I—," he began, only to be interrupted by her raised hand as she walked away.

With a sigh, he raked a hand through his silvering hair and pulled himself to his feet once more. "What a mess," he muttered aloud, bending down to pick up the book she had left in a heap on the floor. Carelessly, he grabbed it and dropped it back down on the nearby end table with a thud, sending yet another teacup sailing to the floor.

Remus groaned with the frustration of it all, glancing up to find a picture of Sirius and James laughing at him from their frame on the mantle.

"Well, I'm glad someone's enjoying all this."