Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Sorry I've taken forever to update! My computer crashed (twice!) and had to go in the shop. So, I've decided to give a double posting! Thanks to EVERYONE for the reviews, and sorry if I have not been able to reply to all of them!
Chapter Nineteen: To Love A Werewolf
In a dingy little apartment building, on the couch in the living room, Tonks shifted her position, beginning finally to wake up. She smelled bacon, and she couldn't go on sleeping knowing there was food.
Tonks gradually opened an eye, then the other one shortly after. She sat up, and yawned happily, that is, as close as was possible to having a happy yawn. She grinned and hugged herself, remembering the previous evening.
A sudden rustling brought her attention to the doorway of the kitchen, where Remus stood, watching her. She smiled again, and admiringly looked at his bare chest, which was surprisingly fit and almost totally covered in old and new hurtful-looking scars.
"Good morning," she said, standing up and stretching, still noticeably looking at his torso. "Have a nice sleep?"
Remus nodded down at her. "You're wearing my shirt," he explained, obviously feeling the need to. "I didn't want to wake you."
Tonks pouted. "Aw, do I have to take it off? It's so pretty."
Remus raised an eyebrow, alarmed slightly by Tonks referring to one of his clothes as 'pretty'.
"I'll change in a sec," Tonks said, looking curiously past Remus into the kitchen. "Did you make bacon?"
"Yes. It was the only food I could find in this whole place. Is that all you eat?" He asked, smiling, his voice teasing.
"I mostly go out," she explained. "I'm a bloody awful cook. Good thing I've got you," she said, her eyes dancing.
"Is that why you fell in love with me?" Remus said, pushing his greying hair back out of his forehead.
"The only reason," she smiled, gave him a quick kiss, and ran off to her bedroom to go change.
When she emerged, she was wearing a blindingly sparkly red sequin sweater, with a black mini skirt to match.
Remus was sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and reading the paper when she came out. He examined at her mildly, and she just caught the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, before going perfectly straight and serious.
"The people at work must love you."
"Oh, they do," she said, grabbing a piece of bacon from the plate he had laid out for her. "It kind of scares me, some days. Rumor is Dawlish has got some sort of shrine set up."
She looked into her tiny compact mirror, and grimaced at her messy blonde hair. "I think I'll be a brunette today," she added, and turned her hair a thick, dark brown.
When she turned back to Remus, she was disgruntled to see he had pulled on his shirt, and was getting his shabby coat from the closet.
"I'll get out of your way before work," he hastily explained. "Thanks for…well, having me, I suppose."
Tonks snorted. "Remus, you prat. You don't have to go, I'm usually late anyways."
Remus smiled, but did not back down. "No, I'll leave now. Maybe you'll to work on time today – " Tonks murmured 'Fat chance' quite loudly under her breath " – and besides, I have a few personal matters to arrange."
"Mmhhmm," she mumbled, still devouring her breakfast. "Like what?"
"Details about my mission."
Tonks put on a disgruntled face, but said nothing more on the subject. "Fine, well, I'll see you later." She kissed Remus longingly on the mouth, but he pulled away much too soon.
"I'll see you later, Nymphadora." And he turned, and went out the door.
Tonks was silent for a moment, until she heard the 'pop' of him Disapparating. Such a gentleman, she thought. Won't even Apparate inside my flat.
Tonks chuckled to herself, and tucked back into her breakfast. She wasn't going to able to get any work done today.
Tap, tap, bang!
Tonks abruptly stopped filing her paperwork and craned her neck towards the window.
A large tawny owl with an oddly shaped beak was tapping impatiently on it, staring right at her.
Tap, tap, bang!
"I'm coming, I'm coming," she murmured, and, quickly checking that no one was around, let the owl in.
As soon as the owl found somewhere to land, it annoyingly began tapping on her right arm.
"Ow – ouch – look, I'm getting to it, OK? Ow! Hey, that really hurt!" She shook her hand away from the owl, and skillfully untied the letter from its ankle one-handedly.
Tonks grasped the envelope in her hand, and studied the neatly, but hastily written 'Tonks' on the front. It was Molly's writing.
Tonks quickly opened the letter and read it. It said:
Tonks,
Ron, Harry and Hermione are gone. Emergency meeting starting in five. If you can't get away from work, we understand.
Molly.
PS: Can you inform Kingsley? No time to send another owl.
Tonks dropped the letter and grabbed her wand off the desk, not caring in the least that she had just knocked over the tower of paperwork she had spent three hours organizing.
Her face was about three shades whiter, and many people gave her questionable looks as she forcefully squeezed herself into the already overfilling silver elevator.
Beside her, coincidently, was Kingsley.
"Where're you off to?" he asked, his tone vague. They hadn't been on the best of terms since the incident last spring. "I thought you had to work 'till nine."
"Er – I have to run," Tonks started, choosing her words carefully, trying to alert Kingsley without anyone else acquiring suspicions. "There's this thing I have to go to. It's an emergency. Er – my phoenix is…in danger."
Kingsley's eyes grew wide and his face brightened in understanding. "Good luck with that, then," he said, his expression and voice betraying nothing.
Tonks looked around in the elevator. No one seemed to have picked up on anything out of the ordinary.
Once outside of the Ministry, they turned to each other.
"What's happened?" croaked Kingsley, his face white.
"Harry, Hermione and Ron are gone," Tonks truthfully explained to him. "Molly's just sent me an owl saying there's an emergency meeting in five minutes." She checked my watch hastily, and bit her tongue. "Probably about two or three minutes now."
Kingsley put a hand to his head. "Oh, Merlin." He looked up at Tonks, his eyes blaring.
"Well, let's go then!" He said, the urgency and volume of his voice outstanding.
"Right," Tonks replied, nodding her head slightly, and Apparated shortly after him.
They hurriedly gathered themselves after their hasty Apparition, and ran into Grimmauld Place, both looking utterly terrified.
They found almost the whole Order bunched around the kitchen table, looking just as white and ghastly as Tonks and Kingsley.
Upon seeing their arrival, Molly Weasley burst into tears, Hestia Jones stiffened and sighed, and Remus merely looked up, his eyes dazed.
"OK, we can start the meeting now," announced McGonagall dryly, her tone brisk and serious and her expression the same. "Shacklebolt, Tonks, please take a seat."
Tonks immediately fell into the seat beside Remus, who seemed much paler and sickly-looking than usual.
"Are you all right?" she whispered hoarsely to him, receiving a nasty glare from McGonagall in the process.
Remus looked at her solemnly, his face pale and emotionless. He just simply nodded, and turned back to McGonagall.
Tonks felt her stomach churn terribly. This was eating him up, she knew it. And he was just going to keep it all bottled up until…
"So what are we going to do?" cried Molly, her face wet with tears and her hand clasped tightly onto her husbands.
McGonagall whitened. "I'm…not really sure, to be honest. They've just…disappeared. There's not much we can do, except perhaps sending someone to go and look for them…"
"Well, we have to do that, then!" Molly said forcefully, drying her tears and standing up, letting go of her husband's hand. "We have to find them! There are so many possibilities of what could of – and can – happen! They could – You-Know-Who could have…Oh, Merlin, they're all going to die!" With that, she collapsed and fell onto Arthur, crying once again.
Remus sighed, and brushed a hand through his hair. "We have to let them go," he said quietly, though his voice held such depth that everyone in the room immediately silenced.
"What?" gasped Bill, his mouth ajar. "We can't…I'm not…I'm not letting my little brother get blown into oblivion by You-Know-Who or…or any of his damn followers!"
Molly let out a wail of despair at Bill's words and starting shaking her head violently.
"Mum, calm down!" said Fred Weasley from beside her. He turned to Remus. "But they're right, we can't just let them go. They'll be killed!"
Remus looked up at Fred, his expression and voice still dull. "It was their choice to go. They're adults now. We can't stop them."
"Well, we have to do something!" exclaimed George, standing up, his face red. Tonks was amazed, she had never seen George so riled up. At least, not without his other half. "After all, we are the Order of the Phoenix. We can't just let them die!"
Remus looked up at him, his eyes flashing. But instead of saying anything, he just sighed and closed his eyes, the worry etched in the premature lines of his face apparent.
So, instead, McGonagall replied. "Of course we'll do something. We just have to figure out what. Remus does have a point, however. They are adults now."
Fred and George exchanged worried looks, Molly continued to cry, and Bill and Arthur began shouting random retorts at the exact same time. Tonks remained silent, just staring at Remus, who was looking down at his lap, obviously thinking hard.
Tonks watched his hands fidgeting terribly for a few moments before she slid her hands into them, stopping the twitching. It also brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to her, his mouth open slightly, and his eyes sharp.
He opened his mouth and then closed it again, before speaking almost silently. "Hello, Nymphadora." He forced a smile, before withdrawing his hand and brushing a hand once again through his greying hair.
The Order meeting lasted another hour or so, but Tonks couldn't concentrate. Remus really seemed to be in state over this. But why wouldn't he be? Harry is practically his godson, she reminded herself.
As the stood up to leave, she snaked her hand into Remus' and made him turn to face her. Remus looked up, his bluish eyes a strange grey colour, and his face painted with worry and confusion.
"They'll be OK," she whispered, trying a smile.
Remus looked away at the wall, dropping her hands. "Let's hope," he replied quietly.
As Remus walked off, joining the rest of the Order, Molly approached her. "Why don't you stay for dinner?" She inquired kindly, her voice still shaking from crying. "We've been staying here at Grimmauld for a while now, if you didn't know. Dinner will be so lonely without…them. I would appreciate it." Molly smiled weakly at her.
"All right. I really had nothing else planned," replied Tonks, pushing an image of her and Remus waking up together again out of her mind.
"Great," said Molly, and, excusing herself, leaving Tonks alone in the kitchen.
As soon as Molly was out of earshot, Tonks groaned loudly and flopped back down on one of the chairs. Just as her personal war was ending, a different one was beginning.
---
Tonks sat at the dinner table at Grimmauld Place looking in awe at the endless supply of food set before her. Apparently Molly was a nervous cook.
"Isn't this wonderful?" exclaimed a near-hysterics Molly. "All…of us…together."
Molly smiled weakly, and Tonks felt herself wishing desperately that she wouldn't cry again. Just image what I must have been like all last year, Tonks wondered idly.
"Terrific," commented Arthur, who was staring intently at his food, as though waiting for it to do some amazing trick.
"Are you people crazy?" said Fleur loudly, her face noticeably tear-stained. "It eez not terrific! Or wonderful! Sometimes I reelly wonder…" Fleur ended bitterly, and dropped her fork promptly in mid-air.
As to have been expected, Molly burst into tears. "Oh, dear, we know. We're just kidding ourselves…" Molly turned quickly to her husband. "Oh, Arthur, I don't know what I'm going to do without them!"
To everyone's surprise, Fleur made a loud sound of disdain, and crossed her arms over her torso. "I deedn't mean them. I 'ave my own problems to, you know."
At that, Tonks turned to Fleur in surprise. "Fleur, seriously, I thought you had gotten over that whole Oh-Dear-Merlin-I'm-Pregnant-At-The-Worst-Possible-Time thing. I mean, Molly's right you – "
Tonks abruptly cut off and slapped a hand to her mouth. I did not just say that, she thought desperately. I did not just…
"What?" cried Bill, suddenly letting go of Fleur's hand and turning to Tonks.
"You…what?" He turned back to Fleur, his face white. "Are…are you?"
Instead of replying, however, Fleur turned to Tonks in outrage. "'Ow dare you?" she shrieked. "'Ow could you do zat? You…you do not know even the 'alf of it!"
Fleur stood up angrily, pulled her chair out with relish, and ran off into the hall, choking back tears.
Tonks sat, frozen, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly ajar. After a few moments of silence, she turned to Bill. "Oh, Merlin, Bill, I am so, so, so sorry. I didn't mean –"
Bill cut her off with a cold stare. "Don't start." He got up from his seat, and followed Fleur into the hallway.
Everyone's eyes drew slowly to Tonks. She reddened, and nervously began apologizing. "I am so sorry. It just – slipped out. Oh, Merlin, I am such a damn fool…"
But Molly stopped her. "No, Tonks, it's all right. Everyone…has times where things just slip out."
"It always happens to me, though," Tonks said, burying her face in her hands. "Oh, I'm going to see if Fleur's OK."
Tonks jumped up from the table, and scattered off into the hall.
Damn, she thought. Good job on making a total idiot of yourself back there.
Suddenly, a loud sob from beside her awakened her to the fact that she was not alone.
"Was…was what Tonks said true?" Bill whispered, his eyes shining.
Tonks pressed herself back onto the wall, disappearing into shadows. It wouldn't help matters much if they caught her eavesdropping.
Fleur looked up at Bill with her gigantic blue-silver eyes and let out a small squeak.
Bill neared her, and put an arm on her shoulder. "Fleur?"
"No," she finally admitted, a single tear slipping down her cheek. "No. I – I thought I was…g-going to 'ave a baby, but…I'm not. I was wrong." Fleur looked down at her hands and drew in a low, raspy breath. "I do not know why I am so upset about something zat never was."
Tonks froze in the darkness, and felt a lump to her throat. She was such an idiot! Why the hell did she have to blab that out she did? Merlin, why did everything just have to slip out her fat mouth…
Bill's jaw tightened, and he sighed. "You know, I couldn't help but feel…a little excited when Tonks said that."
Fleur looked at him sadly. "Eet is not the right time, Bill."
"I know," he said quietly. "But maybe…after this is all over…we could maybe think about it?"
Fleur sniffled, and wiped her eyes. Then, she looked up at Bill lovingly and smiled.
"Yes," she said simply.
Bill let out a strangled laugh, and embraced her tightly, his bright red hair mixing with her silvery-blonde.
Tonks took the opportunity to quietly slip back into the kitchen. Molly and Arthur were cuddling quietly, while Fred and George just looked agitated and restless.
"Wotcher," she said, as cheerfully as she could, breaking the silence.
Molly and Arthur looked up, but the twins just continued grumbling.
"Is…is everything all right?" asked Molly quietly.
Tonks gave a weary smile. "I suppose," she said.
---
Remus stood outside Tonks' flat, looking extremely weary, and extremely pale. He had been waiting for Tonks to come home for over an hour now. He hadn't thought she would be staying out this late.
He checked his watch for about the thirtieth time this evening. It was eleven o'clock on the dot. Maybe he should just go…
"Remus!"
He turned and saw an exhausted looking Tonks a few feet away from him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, and for some reason seemed to be trying to catch her breath.
"Er –" Remus took a step towards her and smiled wearily. "I – I didn't really fancy staying over at Grimmauld tonight. But, if don't want me –"
"No, no, no," began Tonks, straightening up with fury. "Don't you even start that. I want you here."
Remus gave a low chuckle, turned and opened the door, which he had noticed was unlocked forty-five minutes ago.
"Also," he said as they stepped inside. "I have an idea about what to do about Draco Malfoy."
"Did that good sleep do you good?" she asked slyly.
Remus tried to remain serious as he spoke. "No, amazingly. Harry, Ron and Hermione running away actually triggered it."
Tonks face immediately fell. "I see," she squeaked. "So – er – is your idea, exactly?"
"Well, I expect you know that the Malfoy family was on unspeakably good terms with the werewolf Fenrir Greyback?" Tonks whitened, but nodded all the same. "And I know you know that he is…well, he has quite a few followers in the pack I'm going to rejoin in a few days."
Tonks face paled even more, and then turned a dangerous red. "Wait, what? A few days? Are you crazy? I don't…have…you can't do that!"
Remus sighed. "Please, Tonks, back to the point…"
Tonks drew a sharp breath, but remained silent, and nodded.
"Good. Well, I think it would be possible for me to somehow ask one of my fellows to send…this particular message along to Greyback."
Immediately Remus knew he had not phrased this in the best way possible. Tonks exploded with anger. "Are you joking? Remus, you can't do that! It could easily get to Greyback that you were the one that gave the message! And, that werewolf you gave the message to could tell anyone! Which wouldn't help matters much, would it? It would just turn into a damn rumor!" Tonks stopped abruptly, and looked over at a wall. Then, much more softly, she spoke. "And stop calling them 'your fellows'. You're different than them, Remus."
Remus simply looking at her, his quiet eyes tired and weary. "I have to get going." He stood off, and slowly walked towards the door, his thin figure swaying slightly.
Tonks stood up with him, her eyes wild. "Wait – you can't go! Remus, this isn't over!"
To her surprise, Remus turned on her sharply, annoyance seething off him. "Yes, Tonks, it is. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I need a good nights sleep. Nothing you can say or do will change any of my decisions. So please, I don't need you screaming at me again. Goodnight."
Remus opened the door forcefully and stepped out, not even looking back.
---