Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I know Larry Dotter.

Chapter 8: Distractions

They entered another memory. Tonks grit her teeth. Snape was right; the right (or wrong in Tonks' perspective) memory had come up. They were in Dumbledore's circular office. All around there were members of the Order of the Phoenix. Some looked grim, some looked horribly sad and a few looked angry.

"Snape! I cannot believe we trusted that bastard!" yelled none other but Mungdugus Fletcher. There was a murmur of agreement that rippled through the members. They had come in right at the end of the Snape bashing. There had been a lot more. Tonks was quite disappointed that they had missed it.

"This is indeed a dreadful development," said the stern, yet tired, voice of Minerva McGonagall. "I know this has been a difficult time for everyone, but really, we must get down to business. The school governors are thinking of closing the school. We cannot blame them for it; Dumbledore was killed by one of his own professors and Death Eaters got into the school when it is supposed to be the safest place. Nonetheless, the children need to learn. When they come face to face with the worst, they need to know what to do, despite the fact that they are only children."

There was another murmur of agreement. She then continued, "Many parents will want to keep the children home, anyway. Therefore, some of the other professors and I had an idea. I am not sure how well it will work, but we can try if the school governors do not object. We propose that we open Hogwarts not only to students, but to their families as well. Then we can teach defense classes to the parents also. This plan does have many flaws, though. Unfortunately, we will not be able to include non-magical parents in this. In addition, this would make Hogwarts even more likely to be attacked, although we would be more prepared for one. I will give you some time to think this over."

Everyone seemed very emotionless about the subject. Tonks remembered that she had not thought it a good plan. Tonks now remembered that there was some subjects coming up. The next subject contained information that no Death Eater's ears should hear for the safety of—crap, she thought. She could not let Snape hear what was coming! She thought fast.

Tonks started yelling in Snape's ear and before he could do anything, she tackled him, in attempt to distract him. Snape did not seem happy about this at all. He let out a few choice curses as he fought back. Tonks, in the breaks from her screaming (since it is hard to scream constantly when your air pipe keeps getting crushed by the bastard you are trying to tackle), could hear some of McGonagall's speech.

"...Lupin...how is it going?"

"...Greyback...doesn't trust...getting further in... any day now..."

"...continue there...valuable information...werewolves...our side..."

Now Snape had Tonks pinned. She struggled, but it did not help. She just hoped that he hadn't gotten wind of the conversation. Just then, an owl flew in the window. It was a beautiful snowy owl; Tonks recognized it. It gave a letter to Remus. He read it and his eyes widened. He looked up to be confronted by many curious eyes.

"Harry is gone."

He had the rapt attention of everyone in the room.

"What do you mean 'Harry is gone'?" said Tonks.

Remus read, "I have left to find what I need to defeat Voldemort. Do not bother trying to find me, just focus on keeping everyone alive..."

Tonks knew that Remus skipped a lot in the letter. Tonks grabbed it for Remus and read it, he did not protest. She remembered what it said.

Dear Moony,

I have left to find what I need to defeat Voldemort. Do not bother trying to find me, just focus on keeping everyone alive, and please, take care of yourself. I will see you at Bill's wedding, though. But, after that, I have to go. You know of the prophecy. I am a danger to everyone and I must go to defeat that danger. Please take care of everyone; a lot of them won't understand. Especially take care of Tonks, for your own sake. I know you love her, so stop spouting that 'I'm too old and a werewolf' crap. Got it?

I hope to see you again,

Harry

Despite the letter, Remus never stopped spouting the old werewolf crap. This had left Tonks quite depressed, but it didn't last too long. Because of the war, she couldn't dwell on it, she just had to accept it. At least for now.

"I don't understand," Hagrid. "What does 'e need to d'feat You-Know-Who?"

There seemed to be a consensus about that question. Muttering spread across the Order. Then Slughorn stood up, his ruddy cheeks unusually pale. "I believe I can a-answer that," he stammered.

Tonks then remembered. There was no way she could let Snape hear what came next. She shuddered to think of what would happen if Voldemort found out that they knew about the Horcruxes. She tried yelling again, despite the weight that Snape was crushing into her windpipe. That did not work, so she fought as hard at she could. Just as she though she was getting somewhere, Snape restrained her. Damn him and his unobvious muscles, thought Tonks.

Tonks did not know what to do. She made one last desperate attempt to distract Snape. She really didn't realize what she was doing; she just knew that she had to distract him until the subject at hand was over. Tonks managed to yank her arms from Snape's grasp. Quickly, she put them on the back of his head and jerked him down so that his mouth crashed upon hers. She kissed him fiercely. Just as she felt the memory fade away, she felt him kiss back...

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A/N: Well, I wasn't able toadd much humor, but there is some indiscreet, somewhat romantic action between Mr. Snape and Miss Tonks. I hope everyone is having a lovely Holiday and thank you to everyone for reading and everyone for reviewing!

Snape jealous? That's perposterous!

...Just kidding...

---Perplexity