Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I sell fairy waters.

Chapter 27: It Had Better Happen Sometime

"You really do have a nice arse."

There was an uneasy silence. The rational, less drunk, part of Tonks' brain was yelling at her, asking her why she was just standing there having reasonable conversation with Snape, the murderous bastard. She really didn't know what she was doing, but some feeling kept her standing there instead of attacking him.

"My arse is none of your concern, Nymphadora," said Snape coolly.

"Of course, but I must say you did look absolutely smashing at Voldemort's soiree. You should bathe more often."

"While your flattery is most—"

"Flattery? This just the truth, which furthers the fact that, I am absolutely insane," said Tonks.

"I see."

"Where will you go?"

"That is none of your concern as well," said Snape.

"It is too my bloody concern! I am an Auror who is expected to carry out the law! How can I arrest you if I don't know where you are?" yelled Tonks, trying her best to fight the feelings that were running through her. She had to admit, even in her state, that they were not the best feelings to have, especially towards Severus Snape.

"Well, that would be your problem, wouldn't it?"

"Bastard."

"Have I mentioned your limited vocabulary?"

"Nefarious bat," spat Tonks, looking to spite his words.

"Much better," he replied; condescension was thick upon his voice.

"Why did you save me if you wish me dead so much?"

"It was necessary."

"It was not, you could have saved the world and killed me in one single stroke. Why didn't you?" asked Tonks angrily.

"To spite Wormtail."

"That's a poor excuse if I have ever heard one."

"I have heard many; it is a good excuse, especially compared to the ones you would give about your incomplete homework."

"My excuses were good!" protested Tonks.

"I wouldn't call, 'I was preoccupied with writing love letters to you,' a good excuse," sneered Snape.

"It was plenty good. I was the first one in the class to succeed in making you blush!"

"That was vexation, not a blush," snapped Snape.

"It was a full on blush, especially when I started to 'read' them," snickered Tonks. She really didn't know what she was doing. Remus was lying there unconscious and all she could do was fraternize with the enemy. She must really be losing her mind. She wondered if insane asylums accepted walk-ins.

"You believe what you want, Nymphadora, regardless of the facts," said Snape impatiently.

"I think you like me," said Tonks, not able to stop it from spilling out of her mouth.

Snape looked thunderstruck for a half a second before regaining composure and austerity. "Again, your feeble-mindedness shows, you jump to wild conclusions without fact or evidence…"

"Evidence? You bloody started to snog my brains out. If you don't call that evidence, we can assume that I am actually a opossum and that you are a blue-footed booby!" retorted Tonks exasperatedly. Then there was silence. Snape opened his mouth to say something and then thought better of it.

"Must you be so crude, Nymphadora?" said Snape finally, with a sneer.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she mocked. "You so tenderly pressed you lips against mine, in a sweet, but chaste kiss!"

Snape cringed at this description as well. "It is not my fault you were trying to seduce me," he said.

"And it wasn't my fault that I was imprisoned in your house. If I had been left well enough alone that wouldn't have happened. I didn't succeed anyway."

"You did and that is the problem!" snapped Snape. Silence happened once again, the kind that illuminated the situation, that allows everything to be taken in. Tonks, taken aback, stared Snape in the eyes and he stared back with loathing. By this time Tonks was almost backed against the building behind her. His eyes burned into hers. Tonks shivered. He was scary in a terribly sexy way. Damn him.

He came much closer, close enough that she could smell the slightest trace of alcohol on his breath. Close enough that she could tell that he had bathed not long before. Close enough that she could tell that his eyes were nothing but pure black, as she had previously thought his heart.

They met midway; there was no single-sided initiation. He kissed her; she kissed him. There was nothing else to it but pure bliss.

They eventually had to pull back for air. They looked at each other curiously, questioningly. Tonks was the first to speak up. "I told you that you liked me," she said with a slight grin and a knowing look.

"Sod off," said Snape, although he had a rare seen slight grin as well.

"Well, isn't this fine and dandy. I finally find my prince charming and he's a wanted man. I can't seem to get it right, can I?"

"Don't know anything about prince charming," said Snape with disdain. "You'll just have to settle for the Half-Blood Prince."

"Where will you go?" asked Tonks again.

"A place where I won't be bothered."

"Will you ever come back?"

"Sometime."

"And you'll pay a visit?"

"Perhaps."

"You know if you don't I'll be forced to hunt you down myself?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

They both fell silent. Tonks made to say something else, but Snape had captured her lips once more, fervently. As they finally broke apart he whispered to her. "Goodbye Nymphadora." He then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

"It's Tonks!" she yelled after him, a small smile gracing her face.

Finis

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A/N: And that is the last real chapter (epilogue is coming). I hope my story was well enjoyed. Thanks to everyone for reading and to everyone for reviewing.

---Perplexity

PS: For those who didn't know--the guy in St. Mungo's was Snape in disguise.