Light on Snow

2.

Later, standing at the window, Remus saw the Weasley twins abandon their 'fort' in the yard and head inside the house. The day was getting dark, and downstairs Molly would be in the kitchen making dinner. Abruptly, Remus decided he would take a walk through the yard. He put on his thick coat, hat and gloves, and then left his room.

On the lower level, he passed a surprised looking Moody. "Just going for a short stroll, Alastor." Remus said with feigned cheerfulness. The Auror didn't seem to have any kind of reply for him. Remus passed him by and left the house through the thick back door.

The wind had died down, but the air was bitingly cold, and Remus turned the collar up on his coat. He hadn't thought to wrap a scarf around his shoulders. He dug his hands into his pockets and started off away from the house.

He didn't exactly have a plan on where he was going to go. He wasn't even sure why he was out here. His feet seemed to know where to take him, though all he saw were the bare trees around him, a painful reminder that everything important in his life was dead. After a time, he felt sufficiently cold to remind him he was a git for coming out in the first place. Still his feet carried him to a place where he looked up in mild surprise.

A short rickety bench sat underneath an ancient, snow laden oak, and upon it sat the young Auror Tonks. The view of the bench from the house was shielded by a neglected greenhouse. Tonks looked up, and smiled. "Hello, Remus." She said, twirling her wand between two fingers.

"Good evening," Remus said after a moment. "What're you doing out here?" He asked, before she could ask the same of him.

"Oh, I come here to get some peace and quiet." She said, looking strangely reluctant for a moment, and then she said, "When I was younger, and my family and I were visiting, I would always come and sit here to get away from my cousins." She gave him a small smile. "Sirius always knew where to find me. He could be so annoying!" She laughed lightly. Remus felt his throat tighten up. "I… didn't know anyone else remembered it." Tonks offered.

Unwillingly, Remus' feet moved him forward, and he eased down onto the bench beside the young witch. "Sirius and I used to come here to get away from his family. He and James conjured all sorts of pranks here, where his parents couldn't see us." He said quietly, remembering. He gave a laugh. "I remember when we planned to turn your cat into a striped toad. What was his name, again?"

"Boots." She said shortly. "For the Muggle children's story."

They sat in silence after that, and Remus sensed it was rather the wrong thing to say to her, as evidently she harboured ill memories of that occasion. He looked over quickly as the witch made an odd kind of snorting sound. She had a small reluctant smile on her face. "When I tried to change him back, all I did was put fur on him!" She looked over at him, her eyes twinkling. Remus found himself smiling back. He gently leaned over and bumped his shoulder against hers. "I'm glad you can smile about it." He told her, sincerely. He was starting to feel silly, thinking about poor Boots.

"You, sir, do not smile nearly enough anymore." Tonks shot back, kindly, bumping her shoulder against his, slightly harder than he had. Remus' smiled dampened. "I suppose that's so." He granted her, and looked away.

"Sirius was… I… he's gone, Tonks." She didn't reply. He looked at her, slightly angry now. "Do you know what it's like to be left completely alone?"

"You're not alone," Tonks said quickly. "You've got the Order - and Harry. And me!" Yet even as she spoke, she saw how her words meant next to nothing to him. He looked away from her again. She tried again, wrapping an arm around him companionably. "I'll teach you how to smile again." She promised him.

Remus' traitorous heart lifted as she said it.


A/N: I don't know. The ending isn't so good. The next 'chapter' is where I am stuck, unfortunately... I will try to strugge through it ;;

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