Drop Offs and Pick Ups.
"So what do ya think? Is anything ever going to happen between me and him?"
Tonks owl, Gaston, stared blankly up at her, before going back to attacking his owl treats. "Why am I even asking you? You're an owl."
Tonks went over to her bed and pulled her old Hogwarts trunk out from underneath it. The conversation that she had with Remus the night before, played over and over inside her head. She hadn't slept well, giving up on sleep when the sun came up around five thirty. She rubbed her tired eyes and tried to remember the charm that soothed tired eyes. She couldn't.
She lifted the lid of the old trunk. It was full of clothes Tonks used for disguises. Tonks liked to think about it as her dress up box. She pulled out an old navy skirt, a white shirt that had an embroidered pattern that followed the buttons down the front, and a light gray cardigan. Scrounging round the rest of her small apartment, Tonks was able to find a pair of flat, lace up, black shoes, and a funny little purple hat.
She sat on the edge of her bed for a good ten minutes, her face scrunched up in concentration. She focused on changing her hair, then her legs, her torso, her arms, her eyes, mouth, jaw line, and nose. When she felt that everything had changed, Tonks jumped up and ran into the bathroom to check out her transformation. After all these years of being a Metamorphagus she was still stunned by her own powers. The person in the mirror that looked back at Tonks was an old lady that Tonks only knew from her shopping experiences at Marks and Spencer's.
Tonks grabbed up her most old lady-like bag and headed out the door to meet Harry and Molly and the comer of Grimmauld place.
When Remus woke, his muscles had been sore and tense. The full moon was just around the corner and his conversation with Tonks the night before had done nothing to help. To top it all off Molly's run in with the Bogart had shown the harsh reality of the war they were fighting. Death was now a part of the very near future, the idea that life was so fleeting took hold of him. Remus fought the urge to track down Tonks at that very moment and gather her up in his arms.
Reflecting on the previous night, Remus could see that his apologies and explanations had fixed nothing between Tonks and himself. Perhaps today, after they had seen Harry safely on to the train, they could go for ice-cream, or even a butterbeer. Perhaps he still had a chance to woo Tonks. Perhaps it wasn't up to him to save her from him.
Number 12 was teeming with action when Remus got there. The portrait of Mrs. Black was screaming, he went to close the curtains, but the sound of Ginny falling down the stairs, made him realize that it really wouldn't achieve much. He went to the foot of the stairs instead and helped stack the trunks neatly by the door.
"Did I tell you how sexy you look today?"
Tonks looked over at Remus. They were standing on platform 9 ¾, the Hogwarts train had just pulled away. An ocean of moist eyed parents surrounded them. Sirius plodded by them, still in his dog form. That small smile of Remus' that Tonks loved so much was spread across his face.
"Shut up." Tonks mumbled as she straightened her hat.
"So what are you doing for the rest of the day?" Remus had stepped closer to her.
"Nothing, I took the whole day off. Why?"
Remus shrugged in an unconvincingly careless way. "I just thought we could get some ice-cream."
Tonks turned to see Molly dragging the big, black, dog that was Sirius through the gateway. She smiled at the thought of how ticked off he would be. Arthur wasn't too far behind Molly, talking in hushed tones to Moody.
"Ice-cream sounds perfect, "Tonks said, "But do you mind if we pop by my place so I can get changed first?"
"Absolutely."
As they walked through Kings Cross station, heading for a safe apparition point, they chatted merrily about their experiences of heading off to Hogwarts on the train. Tonks spirit was the happiest it had been in weeks, just because Remus asked her for ice cream. Both of them avoided talking about what had been said between them the night before.
They both appeared out of nowhere at the end of a small alley way besides Tonks apartment building, and made their way to her apartment. She quickly grabbed some clothes off the floor and stepped into the bathroom. Remus sat on the chair that wasn't hidden under a mound of clothing and waited.
As he waited he looked around the room. There was an owl standing on the tap over the kitchen sink, fast asleep. Dishes were piled up in the sink, and the rubbish needing taking out. In amongst the clothing on the other chair was a bra that Remus tried to not notice. He was unsure that the carpet had ever been cleaned, and from where he sat he could tell the bed hadn't been made.
"Ah," Tonks opened the bathroom door, "I'm me again."
"Yes you are, pink hair and all." Remus stood up, "What color is it naturally, if you don't mind you asking?"
"Oh, you're pushing a line there." Tonks opened the door and they left the apartment.
"Please, only tell me if you feel you can trust me."
"It's a mousey brown. Shoulder length. Very boring. Trust me."
Taking full benefit of the lovely weather and the flow of friendly conversation, Remus and Tonks walked the whole length of Hyde Park. They wound their way through the streets of London's city centre, to Leisester Square. Tourist littered the square, watched by a giant poster of an action hero promoting his latest film.
It was past lunch time and neither of them had eaten since breakfast, so although Tonks still had an appetite for ice-cream, they headed to a pub for a more substantial meal. They both ordered burgers and a pint of lager, before taking a seat at the back of the pub. As they sat down, the conversation died and they sat looking at each other for what seemed like minuets.
Remus took a depth breath. "Nymphadora, I don't-"
"Tonks!" she interrupted, "But continue. Sorry."
"Nymphadora Tonks, I don't think I can restrain myself from falling for you anymore. I can't keep protecting you from me. I want you in my life and to keep pushing you away tears me apart."
Tonks sat for a while looking at him in mute shock. Remus breathed deeply, his eyes flicking around the room. Tonks looked across to see their food being brought over to them. She watched its progress, ordering her thoughts on what to say.
When their food was in front of them, Tonks said, "I want you in my life too. And if you could just let go of your need to protect me against you, then this could really work. I want it to."
Remus put a hand to Tonks face, he cupped her cheek. He looked deeply into Tonks eyes. "I assume this means that we are now an item?"
Tonks broke out in a huge grin, tears of joys welled up in her eyes. "Yes."
Remus stood in the doorway, his left side leaning against the door jam. His oldest friend sat stretched out on the couch, a set of darts bunched in his hand. As Remus watched, his friend pelted the darts at the wall, each of the darts flying into the painted head of yet another relative on the Black family tree. Sirius aggression dampened Remus's joy.
"He'll be back before you know it." Remus' voice made Sirius swivel his head around to the doorway. "And then when it's all over-"
"Over?! When can this be over? I've not known life without this war." Another dart was thrown, hitting Mrs. Black square between the eyes.
"We all have dark shadows that stay with us through out our life. We just have to live in hope. I really hope that one day the time will come when you and Harry really have time-"
"Harry! Have time! Don't you know what they want from him? Can't you see what Dumbledore doesn't tell us?" Another dart hit the wall, anger distorting his aim; it hit nothing but a painted tree branch.
Remus weighed his words. "There are things that are becoming more obvious about what Dumbledore will inevitably ask of Harry. But the final picture still has many missing pieces. We can do nothing yet but trust that Dumbledore would never willing put Harry in harms way."
Sirius snorted and shook his head. He waved his wand viciously to retrieve the darts from the wall. In his anger he sent them flying wildly around the room. One narrowly missed Remus.
Remus waved his own wand. The darts rose up into his open hand. He picked one up and threw it at the wall hitting Lucius Malfoy. Eger to change the subject, Remus spoke again. "Tonks and I are now an item."
Sirius sat right up. "Since when?"
"Since lunch today."
"So you've snogged her good and proper now?"
Remus dropped the dart he was about to throw. "That's not really something we need to talk about."
"So you did." Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Fantastic!"
A/N:
Hey Guys, just wanted to thank you all for reading, it so lovely to know that people like me, or at least my writing. Sorry it was a short chapter. Thanks to my new Beta, you did a great job.
So guys you know what to do. … Review….hint hint.