Dear miniandminie, thank you so much for your lovely review! It made MY day. :) This one is for you.
That afternoon, Remus and Tonks sneak off for a walk.
"You know we could just apparate to the park, right? I've been there before," Tonks says as they plod through the snow.
"Of course we could," Remus acknowledges, "But then we wouldn't have the experience of waking there with our own two feet."
"I'm sure you appreciate that experience, but let me know how you feel with your own two ankles filling up," she replies dryly.
"Er…"
"I'm TEASING you, darling! I love walking with you. Even with full ankles," Tonks laughs as Remus smiles meekly. Stopping, she asks, "D'you want to build a fort with me?"
"A fort?"
"It's something I did a lot as a child. You pack snow into a sort of shelter. It can be just a wall, or several walls, or it could even have a roof!"
"That sounds lovely!"
She kneels in the snow and starts to pack the snow into the first wall.
He sits in the snow with his back to hers and works on his own wall.
Tonks looks back at him and says "Your back feels nice on mine."
Remus turns around. "I thought it might."
"You still know me so well," she adds, smiling.
They turn back to their walls.
After a few minutes, Remus asks, "How would you add a roof?"
"What?"
"How do you go about adding a roof to a snow fort? It seems the roof would collapse on us immediately."
"Oh. I'm not entirely sure. I've never built a roof, but I imagine you would try to build out from one of the walls and pack it well?"
Remus nods. They work in silence for quite some time, until the walls surround them and are tall enough to fully hide them from view of the trail.
In the distance, carolers begin to sing "The First Noel" merrily.
Tonks taps Remus on the shoulder, nods in the direction of the carolers, and holds a finger to her lips. She starts mouthing the lyrics while laying a protective hand on her swollen stomach. Remus starts to mouth the lyrics, too. As the carolers pass by the little fort, he puts his hand on her belly and the other around her waist. They stay like that until the sun begins to set.
Tonks looks thoughtful for a moment, then says, "It's really special being pregnant at Christmas. So many of the songs are about a baby - a special baby, but a baby nonetheless."
"It's different for me of course, but I can understand," Remus replies.
Somewhat awkwardly, they stand up and Remus steps over the wall. He extends a hand to Tonks to help her over the wall as well, then says, "Well, look what the Christmas fairy left in my pocket!" Pulling out a sprig of mistletoe, he looks shyly at Tonks.
"Mr. Lupin, I do believe you are blushing!" Tonks announces.
"So I am," he says, then kisses her gently.
I hope you enjoyed this little set of stories! This will likely be the last holiday chapter, but I do plan to write more of Remus and Tonks. I adore them so much. Be on the look out for more before too long! :)
