A/N: Hello! It's been more than a while, and I am deeply and truly sorry but I have been in the worst writer's block ever. I know, that's no good excuse, and again; I'm sorry. I shall cease my pointless excuses and pray that you still want to read my story and support me so I won't give up on this. See, I was strong enough to recover a bit from the dreaded writer's block. The question is...will you help me kick its ass? It sure deserves it XD

ANYWAY, on with the long awaited (or perhaps not?) chapter which I couldn't find a good title to so whatever XD

Wake Up

Chapter 12: Amber

It had been two days since she had returned from Severus' house. After treatment and a few dreamless potions for her aid, she had been allowed to go home and sleep in her own bed. She had collapsed, without finding time to take the potion she'd been given from his stocks, and fallen asleep. The next day, around lunchtime, she had awoken with strange fuzzy feelings and a smile. Her dreams were partly forgotten; she could only remember feelings, scents and colours. Frustrated that she couldn't grasp the contents of the dreams, Tonks had quickly pushed it away and begun her first day in freedom.

How strange it had felt. As she'd gotten up from her bed, walked out from her bedroom towards her kitchen…it was as if she was a stranger. It had taken her a while to remember in which drawer she could find the spoons, or in which cabinet she had her bowls and glasses. Even as she got dressed and left for the Order's headquarters, she couldn't quite feel at peace.

"Tonks!" the voice of Remus Lupin called, breaking through the young woman's musings like a bullet. She jumped in surprise and blinked as his face came into sight, startled and a bit annoyed that she now had lost her train of thought.

"You look better than yesterday; feeling better?" he asked with a worried smile. Tonks smiled and nodded. "Yeah, much better, thank you."

"Good! Well, anyway, the meeting is about to start and I just wanted to tell you that," Lupin began, trailing off as he took a deep breath, "that Severus will be attending this time."

Tonks' eyes widened and she felt a pang of excitement in her lower stomach, causing her to squirm a little under the worried stare of her friend. Yesterday, after she had gone to the Order for the first time in almost a week, Severus had been nowhere to be seen. She had even looked for him, glanced around the kitchen, the living room and even snuck down to the basement. She told herself she just wanted to know if he was okay, and not that she missed him in any way, and she'd asked Dumbledore after the meeting if his Potions Master was alright. The old man had smiled and assured her he only needed some rest and then he would be back fully healed. Tonks had been unable to suppress the sigh of relief at the time, and now as she stepped into the room where the meeting was held it wasn't any different.

She'd assured Remus that it was fine, and now as her eyes landed on the brooding and oh so familiar black figure she could only bite the inside of her cheek in order to keep from smiling. His black and cold glare sent shivers down her spine, and when he quickly looked away and hid behind his raven hair she blushed, for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was the spark of pain and lust in his eyes that left her wondering, or was it the sight of him that excited her so? Trying to hide in the corner, leaning against the wall with arms crossed and one foot over the other, while looking away and shielding himself with his hair. He looked so alone in the faraway corner of the room, surrounded by Order members that were glancing nervously at her while sending disgusted glares towards him.

"Tonks? You okay?" Remus whispered, nudging her back in order to make her move. She might not have realized it, but she'd been staring at Severus for quite some time. Her blush deepened and she quickly entered the room, barely avoiding falling as she tripped on her way towards an empty chair.

"There, there luv," Mrs Weasley, apparently sitting on the chair beside her, said soothing with a look of pity. Tonks flashed her a strained smile before focusing her attention on Dumbledore.

"I declare this meeting opened," his calming voice stated. "Since I have yet to complete a reasonable approach of these new turn of events, we shall begin with sharing the new pieces of information or ideas you have hopefully collected. Let's see, ah, Author! How are things in your department?"

Tonks tried to listen to the numerous of enchanted muggle-products and the discussions this provoked, but her mind slipped into the state she had escaped to during the long hours locked up in that dark room. She couldn't hear or see anything but him. It was such a bad habit; she had found herself repeating it whenever her attention span ceased. The sound of his footsteps outside the door, the sharp image of his face hovering over hers, the feel of his hands, and the taste of his lips, everything in her memory was so detailed, so precise, it almost scared her. But now, as the room and the people around her faded into a blur, it wasn't a mere image in her head before her. It was real. His pale skin, hidden beneath black robes and his eyes, behind a curtain of silk, seemed to avoid her. Yet he was the centre of her attention, the centre of her world. She was twisted, she was wrapped around his finger; she was craving him.

Her eyes changed colour again, something they had done on their own a lot recently, and turned a deep colour of amber with streaks of gold. Her breath was quiet and heavy, and her plush lips were slightly parted. The strange feelings from her dreams, her memories, twisted and turned into a knot in her lower stomach. Then, he turned. His piercing eyes met her dazed ones, and it seemed like he saw through straight into her soul. The knot in her stomach tightened and made her let out a sound close to a mewl, as she quickly pressed her thighs together on impulse. The pressure this caused the junction between her legs was most welcomed, and she had to bite her lip in order to silence a moan. The man putting her into such a state raised a sharp eyebrow as his mouth twitched up into a smirk. If possible, his eyes darkened and held her gaze transfixed while the blur around her almost disappeared into complete emptiness. However, a hand placed gently on her shoulder snapped her out of the world devoid of awareness and any sense of logic there was.

"Tonks dear?" Mrs Weasley's voice said, sounding rough and unpleasant in the younger woman's ears. Her heart was beating incredibly fast, and she was cold sweating while almost consumed by the strong fear that clung to her like a terrified cat. To have her mind's world shattered in an instant left her lost and shaken; having lost the warm feeling of safety and of being…seen. Severus was still watching her though, a slight frown disturbing his otherwise stoic features, and she didn't dare break eye contact should it be too much for her to lose.

"I'm fine, Mrs Weasley. Just a bit tired, 's all," she answered, leaning back in her chair while trying to calm down. The older witch didn't seem convinced, and worriedly followed Tonks' stare to end up looking at the pale face of Severus Snape. She huffed and barely contained her anger as she willed the man to look at her instead of the poor girl beside her. It didn't work, and all she got was his mocking grin that she somehow knew was directed towards her.

"Well that should be all for now. Thank you every one," Dumbledore declared, standing up while all the others followed suit. The old man turned and met Mrs Weasley's gaze before continuing. "And Molly, would you prepare some tea for those who will stay? I think a cuppa tea and some of your delicious snacks would go down well with all of us."

"Oh with pleasure Albus," the woman replied, following the stream of people exiting the room to make her way to the kitchen.

"Ah, Severus, would you stay behind a bit? I need to exchange a few words in private," Albus said to the man standing in the corner still. He gave the old man a curt nod in respond, eyes elsewhere. Elsewhere being on Tonks standing still by her chair, fidgeting slightly.

"Was there something you wanted, Miss Tonks?" Albus asked, turning as he followed Severus' stare to end up facing her. The young woman had a blush across her round cheeks, and her usual pink hair had taken the colour of light brown with streaks of a darker shade here and there. Her eyes, still locked with the Potion Master's, were shifting from deep amber to a lighter brown, as if they had a hard time deciding what suited her best.

"Um," she said, slowly looking down and breaking eye contact only to look up and meet Dumbledore's blue instead. "I'll be finishing sorting and examining the documents you gave me today, and since Kingsley is out on a mission for now I was wondering to whom I should give the finished result?"

Dumbledore chuckled, he had almost forgotten about those. It had been to keep her mind occupied, and had not been any work of importance. In fact, it was just the encoded notes of this strange dreams he'd had a few days ago. Of course, he's put some charms on them to make her sweat a bit.

"Oh, why don't you give them to Severus? He will be staying here for a few days after all, and he will probably be available in the basement," Albus assured her, blue eyes twinkling at the growl emitting from the man still by the wall. Tonks' blush deepened as she stole a quick glance towards the dark wizard, stuttering clumsily as she tried to object. His coal eyes on her were distracting, and though she didn't meet his gaze she could still feel him staring…observing.

"But…" she began, before she realized she didn't have any better solution to suggest.

"Well then, if you excuse us," Albus said, flashing her a smile while bowing his head slightly. Tonks swallowed and responded with a nervous twitch of her lips before fleeing the room; cold, black eyes hunting her till she was out of reach and safe behind the wall. Breathing out, Tonks took an opportunity to calm down. She leaned against the wall and shook her head, her inner voice screaming at her for acting so weird. It was only to be expected, she told herself. After all, he'd made her into a bloody mental case! There was no other explanation, not counting being madly in love with a twist. Grinning, Tonks stood and started to make her way to the kitchen where Mrs Weasley's tea and cookies could be located. She absently wondered if she was in a dream, ready to wake up in that old room in any minute, or if reality really felt this weird.

Meanwhile, Severus' wheels were turning at high speed in his head as he tried to listen to the Headmaster and figure out what had just transpired between himself and Tonks a few moments ago. The look of intense lust in the young woman's eyes had not gone unnoticed by the master spy, and the deep colour of them was burned into his mind leaving a nasty burn. He felt uneasy, thinking back at how she'd seemed to see and know only him, and how he had reacted towards this. A flame he'd thought to have been suffocated, as he'd supposedly finished the chapter in his life that was Nymphadora Tonks, had suddenly burst into life and was still licking his insides with its teasing warmth. He was tempted to rip his book open and continue to write about this particular difficult and strange witch who left him with more questions than answers. Sourly tempted. But he wouldn't do anything, would he? He was just going to ignore it and live life as he's done before.

But the only way to get rid of temptation is to give in, isn't it?

A/N: Ooohh, looks like I'll be able to get more lemony goodies up if I continue in this pace -yay- anyway I know I've been bad and that this wasn't the best of chapters (Tonks IS fucked up, and Severus IS a Sex God, so excuse me lol), but please please review? -puppy eyes-