Thanks for the reviews, everyone! -blushes-
I have no idea where, if anywhere, this fic is actually going...I'm currently waiting for a flash of inspiration as to what they might actually do next, which is why this chapter is a bit short. Sorry about that. We'll see, anyway.
Would you believe I've spent over an hour trying to phrase this introduction? I'm so useless sometimes...
Disclaimer: Ditto to last chapter
"We should go in," Remus whispered finally, and Tonks moaned and clung to him, unwilling to let the moment end. But as she was by now shivering slightly in the cold night air, it was hard to deny the truth in his words, and with a sigh she stepped back from him and turned towards the door, still clinging tightly to his hand.
"I should warn you, I'm never going to let you go..." she told him with a teasing grin, squeezing his hand happily. He answered her grin with a look of amused tolerance, letting himself be pulled along the corridor behind her.
"Well, that could prove quite a problem..." he answered, the words coming out of his mouth surprising him almost as much as her. "I suppose that means I'll just have to invite you back to my room for a cup of tea, doesn't it?" He never flirted like this! James, Sirius, yes...but never him. Yet Tonks was so easy to talk to - where he had found himself tongue-tied with other woman, with her it seemed natural, easy. He concentrated on not blushing, looking up at her face to see her reaction to his words.
She was grinning with delight. "Remus, did I hear you right? Well well well..." Shaking her head in mock-surprise, she considered dragging the scene out for a few minutes, but relented at the expression on his face. "I'd love a cup of tea, thank you."
Still hand in hand, they made their way towards the second floor, where a quiet corridor of empty old rooms had been set aside for use by the Order when they were required to protect the school during Dumbledore's absences. There wasn't a soul to be seen in the corridors - the students had all finally been sent back to their beds, after being assured that there were no Death Eaters remaining in the school, and it seemed that not even Peeves dared to make trouble this night. In the silence, Tonks's voice rang unnaturally loud as she chattered on.
"And I was talking to Molly," she said, pushing a tapestry aside to reveal a staircase and starting down it, talking over her shoulder to Lupin. "And she said that...oh damn." He tried unsuccessfully to supress a chuckle at her predicament, one leg stuck in the trick step most people automatically jumped over, and she glared at him. Then her expression changed suddenly, and in a totally different voice she said, "You should laugh more often."
Remus stared at her in utter bewilderment, caught off-guard by her words. "You have a lovely laugh, when you're not being bitter or ironic or sarcastic," she explained, "but we don't get to hear it very often...especially recently."
Avoiding her gaze, he stepped forwards to help her free of the trick step and onto her feet again. "Hasn't exactly been much to laugh at in the last few years," he muttered finally, self-consciously. So used to being the calm, level-headed one, quietly accepting what life threw at him and moving on, had he become silent, distant, without even realising it?
She thought he had a lovely laugh? A small, hidden part of him jumped for joy at the thought.
"You promised me a cup of tea, remember? C'mon..." And as her warm hand caught hold of his again, giving him a gentle tug down the stairs, she repeated McGonagall's words from earlier, just loud enough for him to hear.
"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a bit more love in the world."