Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'm just speculating with her worlds and characters and plots.
The title comes from the song "People" from the musical "Funny Girl." I semi-explained the relevance and then lost the explanation in an uploading glitch and consequently got very annoyed. Oh well. I will explain it later if I can, even though it has little explanation. It was more on a whim, because I had no idea what to title this. Anyway, this is not important. Read on. It will be a 3-chapter deal, with two more parts to go, so this is to be continued.
Nymphadora Tonks suppressed a yawn. Hagrid's entrance into the hospital wing and news that Dumbledore's body had been recovered, and that the students had been ushered back into bed, had broken some of the charged atmosphere in the hospital wing. She and Remus Lupin had quickly volunteered to do a quick patrol of the school, making sure no student was out of bed for any reason and that nothing suspicious was still about. They had gone off in opposite directions; she hadn't seen him since. She had scouted her half of the school until Minerva McGonagall had finally accosted her in one of the deserted corridors and insisted she'd done enough for the night, practically ordering her to go to the staffroom and get something to drink.
As Tonks let herself into the staffroom, she saw with surprise that there were no members of the staff there at all; instead there was Remus Lupin, sitting at a table drinking tea and staring rather blankly at the wall opposite him. He started at her entrance, and they looked at one another for a moment without speaking.
"Tea?" he asked quickly, breaking the awkward silence. Not waiting for an answer, he seized the teapot and poured out a cup, his hands shaking slightly. He handed it to her.
"Thanks." She took the cup and sat down at the table. They sat there sipping their tea in silence for a few minutes. Finally she set down her cup and took a deep breath. "Remus, I -"
"There is no need to apologise," he said with a wry smile. "Surely you can't believe you owe me anything of the sort."
She bit her lip. "It's true, I'm not sorry for what I said. I meant it all; I don't care a Knut about any of your excuses and you know it. But I am sorry for the time and place and - circumstances...blurting it out in front of everyone right then, it wasn't the best form. But I couldn't help it." She made a funny sound as though attempting a laugh. "Sometimes my tongue is as clumsy as the rest of me, you know."
Remus shrugged. "I deserved it," he said. His tone was somewhat light, but he was stirring what was left of his tea carefully and didn't look at her.
"Remus, you deserve happiness, " said Tonks bitterly. "When are you ever going to realize that?"
He didn't answer, and they drained their teacups to the dregs in silence.
"Are you staying at Hogwarts?" he asked abruptly, after a while.
She shook her head. "I'm going back my place in Hogsmeade, until the -" She let the sentence hang, but he knew what she meant.
"There will be a lot of people coming into Hogsmeade in the next few days."
"I know. I'd rather stay here, I don't really fancy seeing a lot of other Ministry people, but I'm still supposed to be stationed there." She paused. "Are you staying here?"
He nodded. "For now. Until -"
"Yeah."
They fell silent again. A minute later, the door opened and Minerva McGonagall walked in, her eyes slightly red. She glanced at the pair sitting in silence at the table. "Nymphadora, if you would like to stay here at Hogwarts -"
"No, that's okay," said Tonks quickly, standing up. "I should really get back to Hogsmeade, I still have a post there."
The new headmistress glanced again at Remus Lupin, whose expression was unreadable. "Then we will see you soon."
She nodded. "Tell everyone to take care." She stopped at the door and added, "Goodbye, Remus."
He nodded. "You take care too."
"I'll try." And with that she left, closing the door behind her.
Questions? Comments? Please review. Thanks...next installment will be longer than this one, I promise.
