Of Nymphs and Werewolves
Well, here it is, the end… 'Nuff said…
Chapter 4
"Tonks!" cried Lupin, rushing over to her.
Tonks wrapped her thin, bare arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Lupin stroked her hair - it had been black and curly since she fought the battle - breathing in the spicy, jasmine-like scent that had always been such a comfort to him. She was in his arms again, she was safe…
"What's this, tears?" he asked, moving away slightly and lifting her chin. She wiped them away hurriedly.
"Sorry," she apologized. "You're shirts all wet…"
"Look, screw the shirt, don't you ever do that to me again, Tonks!" he said, holding her tight.
"Nah," she said with a watery smile. "Dying's not really my thing…"
"Yeah, well don't experiment," he replied, leaning his forehead against hers. "I've been to hell and back while…"
"Hell, huh?" she raised an eyebrow. "You were looking in the wrong place…"
"Stop it, Tonks…"
"Ok, ok…"
Both sat in silence, holding each other as though they could never let go.
"Remus?" she murmured finally into his shirt.
"Yes?"
"It's over, isn't it?"
He lifted his head to look into those beautiful dark eyes he had come so close to losing.
"Yes," he said quietly. "It's over."
Up until now, he had not thought about it, but the effect of the words suddenly hit him with full force. It had ended… The pain, the suffering… It was over…
It was about Midnight when, one by one, the streetlamps in Godric's Hollow went out, plunging the road into darkness.
"Cool," said as Moody pocketed the Put-Outer. "Wish you'd let me have a go, Mad-Eye…"
"Knowing your clumsiness, Tonks, you'd probably have set the whole street on fire," growled Moody. Tonks pulled a face behind his back.
"And I saw that," said Mad-Eye. "Wands out, every one. It's too quiet here."
Tonks rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand, muttering 'Lumos' as she did so.
"Keep your eyes peeled for any sign of movement…" said Moody, his magic eye working overtime as he scanned the surroundings.
"Stop," he said suddenly. The others came to halt. Tonks instinctively grabbed Lupin's arm.
"What's the matter, Moody?" asked Arthur nervously.
"There's Death Eaters in the house," replied Moody. "It's a trap…"
"Well, that's a surprise isn't it…" said Tonks sarcastically. "Never in a million years could I possibly guess…"
"Tonks, shut up," said Hestia Jones from behind her back.
"Is Harry in there?" asked Lupin.
"No, thankfully," growled Moody. "They obviously wanted him on his own, wanted to separate us. Voldemort's not in there either…"
"How many are there?" squeaked Diggle.
"They outnumber us two to one," said Moody. "The best thing we can do is…" He trailed off suddenly.
"DUCK!"
"What the…"
A jet of green light just missed Tonks' shoulder.
"SHIT!"
"Tonks!" shouted Lupin.
"They're on the bloody roof!" yelled Moody, falling to the ground and sending a spell over his shoulder. There was a satisfying shout behind him and a dull thud. "Get something behind your backs, all of you!"
The party split up, with Arthur and Diggle going down one of the alleyways, Tonks and Mad-Eye up against the wall of the furthest house, Remus and Kingsley standing back-to-back behind a large gate and Hestia, together with a another female Auror, Raven O'Neil in a small cols-de-sac across the road.
"There's too many of them," shouted Arthur, shooting a spell from behind the fence.
"We'll have to Disapparate!"
"Come out, come out, dear niece of mine," came a taunting voice. Bellatrix Lestrange was standing on the roof opposite, a mad smile on her face. "I thought I'd finished you at the Ministry of Magic…"
"Mad-Eye!" came Raven's husky voice. "Mad-Eye! They've put a fucking anti-Disapparation spell on the place!"
Tonks felt Moody tense up behind her, they were trapped…
"We need a distraction…" she whispered.
"And guess where Harry Potter is?" The sneering voice of Lucious Malfoy came from above left. "By his parents' graves… The Dark Lord wanted them to be all together when he finishes him off… Lovely little family gathering…
"He's got him at St Godric's Church…" said Moody. "Nice little plan, Voldemort…"
"Yeah, five stars for originality," breathed Tonks, staring at the no-man's-land in the middle of the street. "Wait…"
She lifted her wand gave it a slight flick. A map of the surrounding area beamed out in front of her. "You can get to it if you pass the cols-de-sac where Jones and Raven dived into. If you cut across the garden of house number twenty-six, you'll end up on the outskirts of the churchyard…"
"Don't make us come down there…" Bellatrix was getting impatient.
"Moody, Disillusionment charm…"
Moody nodded and rapped her on the head with his wand.
"Be careful," he growled.
Tonks looked for something where she could get higher up. There was a tree nearby which she could climb and get onto the roof of the house opposite, the only problem was that it was dangerously close to one of the Death Eater's perches. Looks like she'll just have to take the risk…
It was hard to get up the tree without making much noise. As if on purpose, it was a windless night, and she knew that the Death Eaters were listening out for any sign of movement. Carefully taking it branch by branch, she could see out of the corner of her eye how Moody was slowly edging his way to where Remus and Arthur were hiding.
She was more than halfway now…
Then, she stepped on a dry branch…There was a loud snap and her foot slipped treacherously.
"Shit…" she muttered, hanging dangerously by her hands.
"Whose there?" the Death Eater was looking down, his wand raised. She knew the quicker she got up the better. Heaving herself up by her hands, managed to climb to the top and jumped onto the roof. She pulled her wand out…
"NOOOO!" someone screamed.
"MORSMORDRE!" she roared, seeing at the same time how the Dark Mark left her wand and a jet of red light flying towards her. In the space of a split second, she rolled over, sending a spell at the Death Eater and swung herself onto the tree. He'd managed to take the Disillusionment charm off when she'd jumped onto the roof.
Tonks quickly made her way down the tree, not conscious of the yells coming from the other group. She could see them running for the cols-de-sac, with spells zooming in different directions. Her feet hit the ground and without thinking she charged off after the others.
Streams of light were missing her by centimetres, she could hear anxious cries, mixed with Death Eater's incantations roaring in her ears. There was no time to look back, the smallest part of a second could cost her her life…
She was catching up with the others, she could see them jumping over the tall wall that separated the garden of house number twenty-six from the street. Shadows were moving in the corner of her eye; the Death Eaters were running across the roofs.
"Tonks, hurry!" she heard Remus shout. He was standing on the wall, his hand outstretched. A yellow beam of light blinded her suddenly and she miscalculated her jump, just managing to grip the edge of the wall with her arms. Remus took her hand, desperately trying to pull her up.
"Remus…" she groaned. "Don't bother…" There were loud footsteps behind them. She was slowly slipping…
"Be quiet and push up," he snapped. "Don't you even think about it…"
"Remus…"
"NO!"
BANG!
Eight beams of light hit her, smashing the wall. Remus toppled off, the bricks flying on top of him… He felt his back connect with the ground, horrible pain hitting him all over… There were angry shouts, muffled yells, screams, more jets of light… Then he saw her lying face down among the rubble…
Panting, he grabbed her wrist in a tight grip and Disapparated…
"Remus?"
"Hmmm?"
Lupin looked down to see her gazing at him intently.
"Is everyone… all right?" she asked anxiously.
Lupin nodded, not quite meeting her eye. "Everyone's fine… Injuries of course, but they'll live…"
Tonks took his hand in hers, examining it closely. He watched her with interest as she traced her finger up every palm line, a strange expression on her face.
"I saw Sirius, you know…" she said quietly..
Lupin jumped, his eyes wide. "What… what did you say?"
She lifted her face. She was smiling the most beautiful sad smile he had ever seen. Tonks continued in a voice quite unlike her own.
"I saw everyone. Sirius, Dumbledore, Lily and James Potter, the Prewitts, Edgar Bones… All those who didn't make it, Remus… All those who died…"
Lupin eyed her warily, awestruck.
"They were all dressed in white and standing on the edge of the Great Lake. They were smiling at me…"
Lupin's heart was pounding in his ears as he listened, not sure what to think. Tears were rolling down her cheeks…
"I tried to go with them, but Sirius stopped me," she said, her eyes bright. "He said it wasn't time… He said you needed me…"
Remus gulped. He didn't know what to say.
"You do believe me, don't you?"
Remus gazed into her shining dark eyes. She was still smiling, but it wasn't the smile of a mad woman. No, it was the smile of one who had seen and experienced perfect peace and happiness, it was something that no one could understand apart from her…
Remus drew her in and hugged her tight. "Of course I do…"
"He said you'd been dreaming about me since I came into Hospital… That he'd been sending you memories to help you through…"
Lupin felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Is it true?"
There was an expectant pause.
"Yes."
SOB Finite la comedia…
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