Their kiss was dreamily erotic, slow and deep. Tonks wanted more. The press of Remus' lips and body made her long to be closer. She arched in invitation, lightly raking her nails down his back.
He groaned.
At that instant, a capricious wind blew through the circle, sweeping flowers into the air to create a blizzard of white petals. Remus pulled away.
"No! Don't leave me," she cried, reaching out. "I need you!"
Her grasping fingers touched skin, clasped warm fingers. She pressed a kiss to the palm before sliding the hand down to cover her heart.
Blinded by the whirlwind of flowers, she heard peals of fairy laughter...and something else.
"Uh, Tonks?" said a faint voice. "You need to wake up."
-
It was the mother of rude awakenings.
She was sprawled on the bed, cloak open, staring up at her wide-eyed Auror partner—and clutching his hand to her breast.
Jerry held both hands up when she thrust the one she held away from her body. "You—erm—asked me to come by," he said, backing away. "When you didn't answer, I tried the door and—" He stumbled against a trunk. After regaining his balance, he said, "It opened."
Tonks climbed off the mattress, keeping her cloak tightly closed.
"I thought you were having a bad dream," Jerry said, "So I, uh, tried to wake you gently."
And I grabbed you. Oh Shite! "I'm sorry."
"Anybody could forget to reset the wards."
Jerry was so bloody nice it made her feel even worse. "That isn't what I meant."
"I know." A flush highlighted boyish freckles. "Really. It's okay."
"It's not okay," Tonks said. "I feel like I molested a wizard scout!"
Jerry's expression became unreadable. "I haven't been a scout for a long time."
Her laugh was short. "I'm not a molester; I'm just a sexual harasser? Yeah, that's so much better." She crossed her arms, blinking to fight back tears of embarrassment.
"You didn't harass me, you were dreaming." He took a step toward her. "Don't overreact. I said it was okay and I meant it."
He sounded earnest. She said, "You won't be like Dawlish and think I'm a sex-starved nymphomaniac?"
Jerry's brows drew together. "A nymphomaniac wouldn't be sex-starved."
Despite her chagrin, Tonks felt her lips twitch. "Sex-crazed, then."
"No."
He was looking down—at her fuzzy socks? She wriggled her toes. "Not exactly Nympho gear, huh?"
Jerry smiled.
Tonks was tempted to let that be the end of the conversation, but she had to ask, "So everything's cool? Things won't be weird?"
His face was unreadable again. "Why would things be weird?"
Merlin, she felt awkward. "Look," she said. "You're my only real friend in this village. I don't want—" An accidental grope. "—anything to mess that up."
"It won't."
His tone was so sure, Tonks began to relax. "So we can forget about it?" I won't tell Remus, you won't tell your mother, we'll stay mates, and it'll be like it never happened?
"Forget what?" Jerry looked at his watch. "There's something we can't forget. Patrol in fifteen minutes."
She went to the trunk and threw open the lid. "Here." She handed him a beer stein sized mug. "I'll meet you at the Hog's Head in ten minutes."
Jerry looked at her with raised eyebrows. "There's a picture of a coffee mug on your coffee mug."
"It's an old joke. My cousin Lora gave me the mug with a t-shirt that says 'Coffee drinkers are good'—" In the sack. "Look at the time!" Tonks said, giving him a push toward the door. "I'll take three sugars."
When the door closed, she heaved a sigh of relief before racing to the shower.
-
One moment, Remus was lost in a dream. The next, he found himself shaken back to reality.
Delia Bowen shook his arm again. Her face was puffy and lined with fatigue. "Wake up, Lupin, and for stars' sake quit groaning," she said. "A man your age...with the hormones of a teenager...it's disgusting!"
Remus had never experienced dreams that sensual when he was a teenager. If he had, he would've spent most of his youth sleeping. "I'm awake," he said quietly. He sat up, glancing around to see if anyone else had been disturbed by his "groaning." A few people were stirring, but none looked his way.
Delia snorted. "I woke you before you murdered anyone else's sleep."
"You read Shakespeare?" Remus tried not to sound surprised. No-nonsense and curt, she didn't seem the type to enjoy literature, much less a play like Macbeth.
"No. I remembered the line from Muggle Studies." Delia's lip curled. "I bet you read the sonnets to your girlfriend."
"No, she prefers fairy tales in Latin." The sour look he received made Remus wish he'd simply replied in the negative. Apparently, his relationship with Nymphadora triggered Delia's lingering issues with her ex-husband. He rose to his feet. "Do you need assistance freeing Kemp?" he asked, to shift the topic of conversation.
Delia threw a wary glance toward Dix. "Shouldn't we wait for permission?"
"If he objects, he'll say so." Remus strode toward the bound man.
For someone who had spent most the night in torment, Kemp was amazingly cheerful. "Look at me, barely a scratch left unhealed," he said, holding out arms a shade paler than his stained white shirt. "Magic's a wondrous thing."
Wounds had healed, but mottled bruises and dried blood remained. Remus stared at the man's hands. He was responsible for some of that blood.
"Thanks, mate," Kemp said when his bonds were undone. "That was the worst of it, not bein' able to move." He flashed a grin at Delia. "See? Told you things would work out."
Her expression was stony. "What about next time?"
Kemp crossed his heart with a red-stained finger. "Won't be a next time."
"Hey," growled a voice behind them. "Nobody said to free the prisoner, old man. Who do you think you are?"
Remus turned to face Travis. Wryly, he acknowledged that to a man in his early twenties, forty was indeed old. "I'm—"
"Delta," said Dix. He prowled forward. "Third in the pack. Are you formally challenging his position?"
Travis, tall and muscular, smirked at Remus.
Cleave stepped in front of Travis. He made the other man look puny. "If you are, you'll have to go through me."
"I offer no challenge." Travis glared at Remus before stalking over to a group of younger pack members. He made a beeline for Will, pushing him roughly. "What are you gawking at, Squib?"
Will's face contorted.
Travis cried out in pain. "You hexed me!" He held up a hand. An angry red welt sliced across the back.
Will looked at Remus. "I'm not a Squib," he said proudly.
The corner of Remus' mouth tilted up. He was feeling rather proud himself.
Brenda clapped her hands to gain everyone's attention. "I've got gammon steaks and sausages waitin' in the kitchen!"
Remus' stomach rumbled at the thought of ham and sausage.
"I'll fry eggs or grill tomatoes—anything you need," Kemp said eagerly.
Brenda's eyes went to Dix. He nodded. She said, "I could use the help. Mind you wash up first."
Remus watched the others file out of the safe room. Some appeared deathly weary from the change, while others hadn't been werewolves long enough to feel the after-effects that increased over time. He himself should have been bone tired and unable to stomach anything except tea. His hunger for meat was due to his bond with Nymphadora. As Dix had said, his wolf—the darkness he battled to weaken—was strong.
Soon, only two people remained.
Dix broke the silence. "When I've been a werewolf as long as you have, Lupin, I want to possess the strength to change the instant the moon is full, with or without moonlight. I want to be strong enough to rise to my feet the morning after—strong enough to remain Alpha of this pack. That's why I made you Delta. I want what you have."
I'm strong because of my mate, Remus thought. And you can't have her.
Dix's mask of urbanity slipped to reveal the feral beneath. "I want the power of blood magic."
Remus felt a chill that had nothing to do with a draft of cold air. Hadn't this fear lingered at the back of his mind since Dix expressed interest in meeting Nymphadora? "It wasn't about power," he said. "Aside from that, the circumstances aren't the same. The spell, even if she could remember it, wasn't created for two werewolves. If attempted, the results could be—"
"Powerful."
"Dangerous. I've done the research," Remus said firmly. "Blood magic can lead to what is called Theft of Vitae. Your bond could drain your wife of her vitality or rob you of yours."
"Brenda and I are willing to take that chance," Dix said. He gestured to the open door. "Let's go eat some steaks."
Remus' appetite was gone, but he forced himself to nod, and later, to eat.
When they returned to the flat, Will was too tired for lessons. The boy dove onto a futon without unfolding the mattress. "G'night," he mumbled, pulling a pillow over his head. "Wake me if Lillie owls or it's time to eat again."
Upstairs, Remus took a shower and then stood beside the window. In his cage, Stryx shifted upon his perch. Remus gave the owl a treat, wondering if his lover was equally restless, waiting for him to contact her. "You wouldn't like it if you anticipated flying and were told you couldn't leave the cage, would you?" he said. Stryx stared at him unblinkingly. "I didn't think so."
He walked over to the bed and sat down, gazing into his communication mirror. "Nymphadora."
It took a few minutes for her face to appear. "Sorry," she said. "Dawlish called us into his office after our patrol. I'd think his miserable arse wanted company if he hadn't gloated over assigning us the midnight watch." She covered a yawn. "Sorry again. I had wild dreams last night." Her smile was enticingly cheeky. "My second-favourite reason for lack of sleep."
Remus could almost hear Delia say "a man of your age...with the hormones of a teenager...disgusting!" He disagreed. To feel intensely alive and in love made life worthwhile.
Nymphadora blew him a kiss. "So when can I visit and lose sleep in my favourite way?"
Instead of answering directly, he shared what had happened during the full moon and afterwards. He left out that the right to mate was the wolf's true interest in pack status.
Nymphadora was sympathetic, yet practical. "You did what you had to do," she said. "Kemp's all right and Dix…." She made a face. "He's a good businessman, selling you the Delta position for a high price, but arrogant to think blood magic will work for them the way it's worked for us."
"It's more than arrogance," Remus said. "It's fear. In pack society, strength is power, status, leadership. Lose it and you lose everything."
"Then why doesn't he just take Wolfsbane Potion? It lessens the effect of the change almost as well. He's rich," she said with a trace of envy, "He can afford to buy it off the black market."
"Greyback brands anyone who uses it as weak, and unfit to be Alpha."
Her face didn't fall. It brightened. "Then you can use that to get Dix to think for himself—move away from Greyback's control!" Her expression became calculating. "After I tell Dix that I don't remember the spell—"
"But you do remember," Remus said. "If you're given a truth potion, you won't be able to lie."
Nymphadora smiled triumphantly. "It won't be a lie. The memory of the spell, and where I found it, will be gone."
"How?"
"Snape."
His response was instinctive. "No." Although Dumbledore's word was enough to believe in Severus' loyalty to the order, the man's personal grudges made Remus wary of trusting him with Nymphadora's memory.
Her chin had a stubborn tilt. "Yes. It's my decision and I'm doing it."
"The way you decided to remain a woman in your dream." Her wilfulness goaded him into bringing up a subject he had planned to discuss another time. "You knew how I felt about that and you chose to do it anyway."
"I didn't choose—"
"Yes, you did."
"Why?" She challenged. "Why would I do that?" She seemed honestly unaware.
Remus exhaled heavily. "You wanted to achieve a goal...and you succeeded." He looked into eyes now mirroring his own disquiet and said, "The wolf didn't just answer to your voice. He answered to 'Remus'. "
-
A/N: Special Thanks to Molly Coddles for always catching the small stuff every writer should sweat, and Writer Merrin for asking the question I'd originally forgotten to address in the A/N. Why is Remus Delta instead of Gamma? It's because even though scientific literature uses Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc to name the hierarchy of a pack, real wolves (ie people who RP wolves in packs online) don't! Why not? Simple. Delta is cool, while Gamma is Geeky. :D. Just imagining Dix saying "Gamma" makes me giggle. Uh uh, no way! As for the old joke, it's from one of those "You know you've had too much coffee when" lists. The t-shirt with "Coffee drinkers are good in the sack" I changed from the original version, a bumper sticker. :D. The research Remus mentioned was done in ch 10 of From the Battered Journal of Remus J Lupin, before he learned that while Tonks is an irresistible force, he's not an immovable object! If anyone wonders if he'll be learning that lesson again in the near future, it won't be long until you find out. Next chapter is Halloween. Bet you know what "costume" Tonks will wear!
(For those who read For Bitter or for Worse, I am so close to finishing that chapter! It will definitely post today...sometime, lol)
The readers who reviewed the last chapter and made me determined not to let too much time go by before posting another one were...40/16, adrienne06052, adventurous, alix33, Carnivalgirl, ElspethBates, Enorance, FNP, Freja Lercke-Falkenborg, GraceRichie, ishandtwofourths, Kates Master, Ladyofthebookworms, ladyofthelight101, Lilsipoheaven, MollyCoddles, (were you anon this chapter? sounded like you:D) Moontime, n1264, obliviate36, Operamuse, obliviate36, potteronpotluvhim, siriuslycoco, sunny9847, tambrathegreat, twouble, Writer Merrin, XLupinXLoverX, your nightmare, and Ziroana.