Hey guys! Glad you're all enjoying! Didn't mean to update so soon but I got five reviews (six, including my own rely) in less than twenty-four hours so I was quite chuffed.A little cheerier than the last chapter, although still a way to go before a reconciliation and happy ending.

Chapter Twelve

Her screams echoed through the house and brought everyone in it running at various times depending on where they were and how fast they could run. Thankfully, Snape was one of the first on the scene. He took one look at Tonks and the awful wound on her arm, then at the floor – "Nice aim," he said to Lupin, which was possibly the first complimentary thing he had ever said to him. Then, "I'll be back in a sec."

He returned a second later with a bezoar, one of the most effective poison-antidotes in the world, as well as one of the rarest. Snape had collected a supply for precisely this eventuality – you never knew what venomous creatures had taken up residence in the Black house with no humans around to bother them. "Nymphodora," he said briskly to her, as if unaware of how much pain she was in. "Swallow this or you will die." She was so wrapped up in her pain that she seemed unaware of what Snape was saying to her. He huffed at her in annoyance in much the same way as he had done to Harry when he had been unable to answer one of his questions correctly. "Here," he said, shoving the bezoar into Lupin's hand. "I'm sure you have plenty of experience making her swallow stuff," he said crassly.

"Snape..." Moody said warningly. Everyone's hearts were in their throats, and Snape being crass didn't help matters any.

Oblivious to the crowd, Lupin swung Tonks into his arms and carried her to the couch. "Love, you have to take this," he whispered soothingly in her ear, hearing a calmness in his voice that he certainly didn't feel. She was shaking violently now, and he held his palm up to her mouth. "Please," he begged. He tilted her head back so the stone fell into her mouth and, with a shudder that made him realise it was painful for her to swallow, she did so. "There," he said, glaring coldly at Snape. "Is that it?"

"No, that just buys her time," Snape said. "Do you know many times she was bitten?"

"Once," he said. "I saw."

"Then she may still survive," he said in a funny, flat voice that frightened everyone to the core. "I need that thing – " he said, jerking his head at the waper, "to create an antidote."

"And you can do that here, right?" Lupin asked hopefully.

He got a withering look from Snape for his troubles. "Because there's a world-class Potions lab set up here," he said sarcastically. "I'll have to go to Hogwarts."

"And have Umbridge know what you're up to!" Lupin asked, outraged.

"Sometimes I don't know who has less sense, Umbridge or you for thinking she's smart enough to know what I'm up to," Snape said with the same condescending tone. "I could tell her anything and she'll take my word for it. I think an extra-strong Truth Potion will work. One that's particularly painful," he mused, thinking that that excuse would delight Umbridge so much she wouldn't stop to double-check, even if she had the intelligence to do so, that that was actually what Snape was doing. And Umbridge, for all her viciousness and ambitious, was far from a brilliant woman. In fact, it was popular opinion that her ambition, uncoupled with brilliance, was part of what had made her so vicious. There is nothing so unbearable to the ambitious as knowing there are far greater people than them out there.

So Snape departed to Hogwarts. "I'm going to take her to her room," Lupin declared, daring anyone to challenge him. No-one did. He had no idea how traumatic Appirating would be for her, and he hadn't done a side-on Apparation for years anyway, so he decided the best thing was to carry her upstairs. She was so light anyway. He had never thought about it before; he had werewolf strength, even when it wasn't the full moon, so lifting her had never been a problem for him. But now, as she lay shaking with pain in his arms, he was hyper-aware of how small and fragile she was.

She groaned when he lifted her up. "It's OK, love," he whispered. "I'm just going to take you up to your room and then you won't have to move."

"Feel awful," she groaned.

"I know you do, love. Snape's gone to make an antidote and I'll stay with you until he comes back."

"Promise?" she whispered.

"Promise." He tried not to think about the fact she could very well die in his arms before Snape got back. Well, if that's what it came to, he would stay with her until then.

He took her up to her room and lay her gently on her bed, lying next to her and simply holding her hand so he wouldn't move her when he moved. He talked to her softly, soothing her fears as best he could when she herself knew that the pain was getting worse and fever was creeping in. She slipped into unconsciousness – mercifully, he thought, because it had to be better than the pain she was in. He felt her forehead. She was definitely too warm – warmer than he got, and his body naturally ran a few degrees higher than that of humans.

There was a knock on the door. It was Molly. "The book said she'd run a fever and I didn't think magic was a good idea so I brought you some cold towels," she said tentatively. "Hermione suggested antiseptic cream for her arm. It's a mug –"

"I know what antiseptic cream is, Molly," Lupin said in a strained voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." He took the cold towels off her. "Thankyou," he said. "She's so hot but I don't want to use any magic on her. Bezoar's are pretty powerful and magic tends to dilute their effects," he said in that same strained voice. Once he'd placed the cloths over her face he started on her arm with a gentleness that Molly had rarely seen from the staff at St. Mungo's – and unfortunately, given her boys penchant for pranks and passion for dragons, that was far more than she would have liked.

"You're good with her," she admitted, somewhat grudgingly.

"I'm not an animal all the time, Molly," Lupin said, trying to make a joke and failing miserably. He finished with her arm and leaned over to stroke her hair, which had turned back to its mousy brown after her initial joy at finding out that he had been lying about the smell thing to push her away. "I'm sorry, love," he whispered, largely not caring that Molly could overhear – and, being the insatiable gossip that she was, would overhear. "I'll make it up to you."

"What happened?" she asked, with more concern then she had showed him in the past six years.

"We had a fight. I tried to push her away by telling her I could smell Charlie on her – you know the kicker? It was Charlie who set her straight. She confronted me about it and I told her I'd quit if she didn't leave me alone. She stormed off, and – you know her – she never had the best sense of how much room she had – and walked into the wall." He told Molly this distractedly before returning his attention to Tonks. "I'll make it up to you," he repeated. "I'll stand up to your parents this time. I should have explained – should have explained..." he trailed off, at a loss for words.

"If you don't mind me asking – when did things change between you?" Molly asked. "I mean, I assume, um..."

"That I saw her differently when she was seventeen then when she was eight?" Lupin asked hollowly. He was looking at Tonks, but he could tell Molly was looking embarrassed that he had nailed exactly what she had been dying to ask. "I don't know exactly. I just liked hanging her around more and more. And I guess she felt the same way. And then Christmas when she was fifteen she kissed me and I knew it was wrong, but I liked it. And I told her to come back when she was seventeen and I tried to forget her, but – " He squeezed Tonks's hand. "I really tried, Molly," he whispered hoarsely, the first time he had properly addressed her since she had come in – and even then, she wasn't sure if he was addressing her or Andromeda.

"I never understood how you could love someone you had known when she was so young," Molly admitted.

The words cut through his brain and brought back a memory. "Funny, we used to say exactly the same thing about Severus and Lily."

Molly's eyes went wide in surprise. "I'm sorry, Severus and Lily?" she asked. "He had a thing for her? I had no idea..." Despite the tragedy at hand, she had to wonder how she had missed such a huge piece of gossip.

"Not many people did. I don't think she even did. But the four of us did," he said, referring to him, James, Sirius and Peter, "and we tormented him endlessly for it – to his face and behind his back." Well, mostly James had tormented him to his face, but they had all had their fair share of teasing him behind his back. "I never understood how he could feel that way about her when they had known each other when they were kids. I hadn't even thought about it for years until you just said that."

"We can't help the people we love," Molly mused, realising in retrospect that she had been lucky to fall for someone so socially appropriate.

"Remus," Tonks cried out in her delirium, shuddering in her pain.

He reached for her hand. "I'm here, love," he said soothingly, and Molly watched as Tonks visibly calmed under his touch.

Molly started to say something but then Snape came barging in. "I've got it," he said.

"Took your time," Lupin aid shortly. Every second Snape had been away had felt like a minute, every minute like an hour. He checked his watch – one of the few muggle-style watches to be found in the magical world – and realised he had been less than two hours. It had felt like eternity.

"I'm sorry, would you like me to go back to Hogwarts?" Snake are snarkily.

Lupin gritted his teeth. There was nothing he would like more in the world than to tell Snape where he could shove his help. But there was no-one who knew his potions like that man – Lupin had been forced to concede that over the Wolfsbane. "Fine, let's do this," he said.

"I'll get out of your hair," Molly said, eager to be away from the obvious animosity between the two men, not to mention the fact that thinking about Snape having feelings for Lily creeped her out somewhat.

"How is she?" Snape asked in what Lupin assumed was his attempt at a concerned tone.

"Delirious. In pain."

"It's a miracle she's got this far. She wouldn't have without the bezoar," Snape reminded him.

He uncorked the antidote he had created and Lupin thought he was going to throw up from the smell. Sure, he had an inhuman sense of smell, but it wasn't that inhuman; the stench really was revolting. He didn't even need to taste it to know that his contraceptive potion was like butterbeer compared to that. "Does she have to drink that?" he asked. "Can't we give it to her intravenously?"

Snape snorted derisively. "And I thought you loved her," he said sarcastically.

Lupin shook Tonks gently, then more violently when she refused to rouse. "Love, you have to wake up," he urged. Still no response, and with the greatest of reluctance, he took his dagger out of his pocket and pushed the sharp end against her bandaged arm. Tonks screamed in agony and bolted awake.

"Didn't know you had it in you," Snape said in something that resembled admiration.

"Love, you've got to drink this," Lupin urged. He took the flask from Snape's hand, wrinkling up his own nose at it, and pushed it against her mouth. She whimpered at the smell of it and pulled her head away. "Drink it," he said in a more commanding voice.

"No," she said weakly, but in that stubborn Black voice that he recognised.

"She has to drink it," Snape said, hovering by the edge of the bed.

"Yes, I am aware of that, Severus," Lupin said through gritted teeth. He paused for a second. Though it went against his nature to hurt anyone, let alone Tonks, he knew he was going to have to if she were to live. "OK, hold this for a second," Lupin said to Snape, handing him back to Potion. He sat up against the headboard and pulled Tonks into his lap, not bothering to be gentle with her. Before she had fully comprehended what was going on, he had bound her hands behind her back using magic. "I'm really sorry about this," he whispered in her ear. "Forgive me, love." Waving his wand quickly, he procured a small funnel. Using his superior strength, he restrained her and forced her head back, pinching her nose shut between his thumb and forefinger. Realising what he was intending on doing, she tried to struggle against him, but he was far stronger to begin with, and her pain and delirium had weakened her considerably. "Pour it into her mouth using the funnel," Lupin commanded Snape. "If she wants to breathe, she'll have to swallow."

Snape made a grunting sound which Lupin took for approval. He did as Lupin directed it and from the second the potion hit her throat, Tonks made a moaning sound that, though weak, made it clear how noxious the stuff was. "What did you put in that?" Lupin demanded. He was glad Snape was the one holding the funnel and forcing the awful stuff down her throat; he wasn't sure he was the one who could actually commit the act.

"So sorry I forgot to add cinnamon," Snape said sarcastically. "I needed the venom to create an anti-venom. It was never going to taste like butterbeer." Finally she had swallowed the lot and swallowed frantically for air. "Nymphodora, you throw up and we'll have to do it all over again," Snape said in his languid voice that always sounded like he would enjoy doing just that. Lupin shot him a filthy look.

"You can go now," Lupin said shortly.

"I'll be back every three hours," Snape said.

He left Lupin alone with Tonks. "I hate you," Tonks said feebly.

"Hate me if you want," he said, as neutrally as he could when he wanted to tell her how much he hated himself. "You need to be alive to hate me."

"Don't touch me."

"If that's what you want, but I'm not leaving you." He laid her gently back down on the bed and sat on the chair next to the bed. "I hope you can forgive me," he said. "When you get better, if you still want to be with me – "

"I'd rather die," she mumbled feebly.

He couldn't help himself. He slapped her hard across the face. "Don't talk like that!" he yelled at her. "Don't you get it? I'm sorry, OK! I'm sorry I ever pushed you away. I'm sorry – " but he realised she had mercifully passed out.