"Nymphadora Tonks! You get your ass back here right now!" the older woman shrieked, following Tonks down the hall.

Tonks growled at being called by her first name and spun around. "What?"

"First of all, you must be spending too much tome with those damn children. I don't know who the bloody hell that growl was for, but I sure as hell know it wasn't for me."

"Sorry," Tonks mumbled, feeling like she was five and being disciplined by her mother.

"Secondly, where in hell are you going?"

"There's an important meeting for the Order."

"There is not."

"There-There is too!" Tonks stammered.

"And you forgot until just now?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to remember anything when you have your tongue in my ear."

The older woman smiled coyly. "Don't go." It was more of an order than a request.

"I have to go," Tonks told her.

She scoffed, "According to whom?"

"Albus Dumbledore," Tonks muttered.

"Your precious Headmaster? Well, maybe we should owl your mother and have her write you a not to excuse your tardiness. You're twenty-three years old, damn it! Make your own bloody decisions! Do you want to go?"

Tonks shrugged, "I guess."

The older woman raised her eyebrows skeptically, "Really?"

"Not really," Tonks sighed. "I want to stay home."

"With me," the older woman finished. "Well? Why don't you?"

Tonks both loved this and hated this about their relationship. She made Tonks think for herself and make decisions, but she also made Tonks feel so you, so dependent… So needy. Tonks didn't like feeling this way and she knew her lover didn't admire this about people either. "Well, I can't exactly say that I didn't go because I was with you."

"And why not?"

"They… They don't really like you all that much," Tonks admitted.

Rita Skeeter smiled wickedly at the younger woman. This is what she loved about the relationship: the feeling of power, of control. It was absolute and Rita hungered for it. It made her feel so alive. She took the younger woman's hand, leading her back to their bedroom.

"I'll be late!" Tonks half-protested, allowing Rita to pull her down the hall.

Rita shrugged. "We'll make sure we stay by the fire," she grinned. "You can floo over right after."

"What if they check up on my through the floo system and see?" Tonks asked, scandalized.

"We'll give them something to watch," Rita winked.