Chapter Thirty-Nine – Aftershock
Tonks was in her room, and was about to take off her shirt when someone flooed in from the fireplace.
"Professor McGonagall," Tonks said, clearly confused.
"Hallo, Tonks," Professor McGonagall said, in a some what hallow voice. "We've been using the connection between here and your bedchamber at Hogwarts all morning. I hope you don't mind."
"No, that's fine. Severus doesn't happen to be at Hogwarts, does he?" Tonks asked hopefully.
"I haven't seen him," Professor McGonagall told her. "I'll let you know though."
Tonks nodded and grabbed a change of clothes and a towel. She would definitely go ahead and change in the bathroom.
The water felt good on her skin. She made the water as hot as she could stand, letting all the grime and dirt wash off of her body. First she washed her hair as it was (blue spikes) and then scrunched her nose, making her natural hair show, and washed again.
When she felt as clean as she could be, Tonks turned off the water and dried off. She quickly changed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her fingers traced along the dark line on her cheek where she had been hit with a severing charm. There was no doubt in her mind that it would leave a scar.
Finally, she screwed up her face in concentration and gave herself pink spikes. She glanced at her reflection one last time and muttered, "Where are you, Severus?" Tonks tried not to cry; she needed to be strong now. "He said he'd find me," she told her reflection.
"Cheer up," the mirror told her. "It's not all that bad."
"Go to hell," she snapped at the mirror, leaving the bathroom.
"Touchy, touchy," the mirror said quietly. "I was only trying to help."
Tonks walked slowly down the stairs and heard someone call her name. She looked around wildly, sure it was Severus. But it was Kingsley, with the guard schedule for the next few days. Every Auror was being asked to do double shifts.
She looked for her name and saw that she would be patrolling Diagon Alley, but not until four in the afternoon. Kingsley put his hand on her shoulder. "Get some rest, kid."
"In a bit," Tonks answered. She went into the study, hoping for more news. Professor McGonagall was updating everyone on the student's condition. As of now, they were all unharmed. Neville had given them a scare, but he was out of the coma. This gave everyone another reason to cheer.
Tonks finally decided to accept the butterbeer that everyone kept pushing on her. She drank slowly and kept hearing more news. Mad-Eye Moody had finally been killed. It took four Death Eaters, and true to his nature, he stunned three of them, trying to get them brought in alive. Her friend Gordon Petty, an Auror, had also been killed. Right now the death count stood at twelve, with a few more expected.
She drank almost half of her butterbeer, when a combination of tiredness and clumsiness got the better of her. The bottle fell to the ground, breaking into a few large pieces underneath an end table.
"Fuck," Tonks muttered to herself. She knelt down and said a quick spell to vanish the liquid. She was about to clean up the glass when a large cheer went up.
Tonks looked at the doorway, and her breath caught in her throat. It was Severus. He looked like hell. His hair was caked with blood and his robes were ripped. He was looking around wildly, since he couldn't see her from her current position. She tried to stand up so quickly that she hit her head hard on the edge of the end table.
"Damnit!" Tonks yelled, rubbing her head. Severus heard that, and their eyes met. Tonks stood up then, all reasonable thought leaving her head, ran and jumped into his arms.
Severus stroked her cheek, where her new scar was forming, causing her to wince slightly. He moved his hand away quickly. For a moment, they just looked at each other.
"Dora."
Just hearing his voice again, made Tonks start crying, almost uncontrolabably. "I thought…" Tonks gasped. "I tried to tell myself you were fine, but I didn't believe it…"
Severus held her close, and started rocking back and forth slowly. It was a move he would use to calm her when she woke up from nightmares. "Dora, I'm fine. A little banged up, but fine."
Tonks looked up into his eyes and smiled. Then she took his neck and brought his head down for a kiss. She didn't care who saw them. Let the world see them for all she cared.
His arms held her tighter, but they broke apart when they heard cheers behind them. Tonks looked over Severus' shoulder and saw that everyone in the room was staring at them, everyone clapping their hands.
"I knew it!" someone shouted, causing Tonks to blush. She stood up and gave a little bow. Then she grabbed Severus' hand and they ran upstairs. Severus started to go to her room, but Tonks stopped him.
"People have been using the fireplace," Tonks told him. She refused to let go of his hand.
Severus stopped suddenly and put his arms around her waist. Tonks rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. She felt him rest his head on the top of her head. They stayed that way for almost five minutes, in silence.
"I need to shower," Severus whispered.
They went into Tonks' room, and she gave him a towel. "Go shower, and I'll get you a change of clothes," Tonks told him. Severus nodded. Tonks felt an unreasonable nervousness about leaving him. She watched him leave the room, and she took a handful of floo powder.
Moments later she was in their bedchamber. Tonks ran to the dresser and found a clean robe, along with a shirt and a pair of slacks. She doubted that he'd want to dress formally today. On a whim, she brought along his dressing gown. Then went through the floo network one more time.
Tonks brought the clothes into the bathroom. Not being able to help herself, Tonks poked her head in the shower and looked at him. His back was to her. She made a small noise when she saw the welts on his back. Severus turned around quickly and looked at her.
"Either get in, or I'll tell you about them when I'm done," Severus said. The words sounded harsh, but his tone was gentle.
"I've already had my shower, thank you very much," Tonks smiled. But then she gave a small scream as Severus took her hand and dragged her into the shower with him. "Where's your wand?" Tonks asked quickly.
Severus reached outside the shower curtain and quickly cast some privacy charms on the bathroom. By then, Tonks was soaking wet.
She started to remove her clothes, but Severus put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. Tonks opened her mouth slightly and met his tongue with her own. But then Tonks broke away, slightly breathless. "I think we're both a little too tired and sore to shag in the shower, Severus."
Severus responded by kissing her again. After another moment, he told her, "I'll make this as quick as possible."
Tonks laughed, and carefully stepped out of the shower. "I'll be timing you," Tonks called out.
Four minutes later, Severus turned off the water. He put on the dressing gown silently and together, holding hands, they left the bathroom in search of a spare bedroom.
To their dismay, the first few rooms they checked were occupied with Order members trying to get some sleep. They went to the next floor, and found an empty room.
The moment the privacy charms were put up, Severus and Tonks were in each others arms. Severus almost ripped Tonks' wet clothing off of her. This was no time for foreplay; Severus was practically inside her by the time they made it to the bed.
She started to adjust the pillow, but stopped and concentrated on their connection. He was thrusting rapidly, and Tonks wrapped her legs around his waist.
Her eyes were closed when he heard him whisper, "Look at me, Dora." Tonks looked up and put her hands on his face. He ran his hand through her pink spikes. "Please be natural, Dora. Please," he said softly.
Tonks put her hands around his neck and brought his head down for a hard kiss. She then scrunched up her face and allowed herself to be completely natural. "I am, Severus. I am," she whispered back.
They finished quickly. Tonks thought she would be exhausted and ready to sleep, but she found herself quite energized. Severus seemed reluctant to get off of her. Finally, he rolled over onto his back. Tonks then moved to her stomach next to him. She started playing with the chain around his neck.
"I heard Albus is dead," Severus said after a few minutes of silence. "Is that true?"
Tonks nodded. She reached across his chest and grabbed his left arm. The Dark Mark was gone. "Why weren't you rounded up with the rest of the Death Eaters?" Tonks asked. "Weren't you unconscious?"
Severus sighed. "I was in a deep part of the forest when the Dark Mark started to disappear. I don't think any Aurors bothered to check that far," Severus said.
"But –" Tonks started to ask why it took him so long to get to Headquarters when he answered her question.
"I was fighting a few Death Eaters when it happened. We all woke at the same time, so I had to continue the fight. I ended up killing one, one I didn't recognize. The other one banished me, of all spells," Severus told her, shaking his head. "Believe it or not, I think I ended up in Ireland. I had to wait for awhile until I had enough strength to apparate here." Tonks shivered as his hand started tracing lazy circles on her back.
"What happened to your back?" Tonks asked.
Severus closed his eyes briefly. "Mad-Eye saved my life. Early on in the fighting, I was surrounded. Death Eaters all wanting revenge. Dolohov was using a bit of dark magic that I taught him, ironically enough. The spell enables you to make your wand into a whip."
"That's not a nice spell," Tonks said suddenly.
"No, not nice at all, Dora," Severus said. "I had been hit with the Cruciatus curse a few times, and was weak, so they took turns whipping me. Mad-Eye stepped in and saved me. I don't know if he survived."
"He's gone," Tonks told him.
"I don't understand it, Dora. Mad-Eye has always hated me. Never trusted me, not once since the second war started. Why would he do that?" Severus asked.
Tonks really didn't have an answer for him. "He was doing what he thought was right," Tonks said. "Mad-Eye obviously wanted to catch the real dark wizards more than he mistrusted you."
"Maybe," Severus said unconvincingly.
"How do you feel?" Tonks asked gently. Severus turned his head away from her. After a minute of no answer, Tonks took her hand and moved his head so that he was looking at her. To her surprise, Severus seemed to be crying.
"I'm free, Dora," he said softly. "I feel like I'm free for the first time in my entire life."
Tonks moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "How so?" Tonks asked.
"First, I lived under my father. By the time he died, I was a slave to Voldemort," Severus said. Tonks took her hand and wiped the few tears that had fallen down his cheeks. "Then when he was gone the first time, I had to hide away in Hogwarts. And then when he came back, I was a puppet for Albus.
"And now, Voldemort is gone. Truly gone. I'm a free man," Severus said simply.
"Not true," Tonks joked, hoping to make Severus smile. "You belong to me now."
Severus ran his hand through her hair. "I'll be yours forever, Dora."
Tonks smiled and started to close her eyes to get some sleep. But Severus continued to talk. "I'm sorry I pressured you," he said softly, into her hair.
Tonks looked up, confused. "Pressured me about what?" she asked.
"About being natural, just now. It just dawned on me that we should really sit down and discuss everything first," Severus said quickly.
Tonks wasn't able to contain her smile. "There's really not much to discuss, Severus," Tonks told him. "I have every intention on being in my natural state when we shag from now on. I want to start our family as quickly as you do."
Severus' eyes seemed to light up. "Really?" he asked hoarsely.
"Really," Tonks said. A wave of exhaustion swept over her. Tonks looked at the hourglass on the nightstand. It was already eleven o'clock. "I really need some sleep."
Severus nodded and within minutes, they were both asleep.