Author's Note:
Ah finally an update ^_^ Sorry, I've been trying to work out and plan the entire plot for my other story, Prisoner of the Moon, that I haven't gotten a time to finish this story. Well here's the update, I hope you enjoy it. Please review, thanks so much. Reviewing means a lot and helps me too! Thank you for reading! ^_^ Sorry for the irregular updates. Please bear with me.
Chapter 09 – Calling of the Blood Moon
That night was a particularly cold and windy night. After much reasoning that as an adult she needed more freedom and being restricted to stay in the grounds of her old school would do her no good, Tonks finally got Mad-Eye Moody to allow her a trip to Hogsmeade alone, as an adult, not a student. She breathed into her hands, able to see her wispy breath. Tonks pulled on her black gloves and then wrapped her arms around herself as she continued walking, trying to enjoy as much of the solitude as she could. She'd skipped dinner that night, knowing that her cousin Alexis wouldn't be there anyways so there was no personal point in going. The sun had set and Tonks was wandering the quiet but not empty streets of Hogsmeade under the full moon.
As she walked, Tonks felt very small and insignificant, like a nobody. She was a silent figure padding through the stone streets, alone. Overhead was the full moon, cold and pale as a corpse, casting its faint milky glow over the world beneath it. Tonks gazed at the moon. Ever since that night at the Shrieking Shack, now, whenever she looked at the moon, she would picture one face, a tired but still very young and handsome face, crossed with scars and holding deep, gentle blue eyes. She'd wonder where he was, if he was happy or sad, if he was well or ill. Tonks sighed. She didn't know why, but whenever she gazed longingly at the moon, she'd feel her heart beat in a different rhythm as she began to wonder about Remus Lupin, her friend.
"Watch it," the voice of an aged wizard called out to her. She'd just run into someone while her eyes were lost to the moon. The man must have noticed that she was staring at the pale and cold full moon. He suddenly smiled. "Ah, gazing at the Blood Moon I see," he spoke in a pleasant voice. "If you want to gaze, I would suggest finding a high point, such as on the hills over there," he spoke, pointing to the dark silhouette of a peak which Tonks thought had been a small mountain. "There you'd get a very good glimpse of this year's Blood Moon," he smiled. "It's truly a breathtaking sight, trust me," he smirked and winked, his face seeming so kind.
"Thank you sir," she replied, realizing that those three words must have been the most polite she'd ever been to anyone, well except for Albus Dumbledore. Tonks walked away from the man, turning left as she headed for the dark silhouette of a hill he had directed her to earlier.
She was beginning to leave the small yet rowdy town of Hogsmeade as she neared the hill. Tonks realized that she was approaching the edge of the woods and she'd have to hike up it if she wanted a good look at the Blood Moon. Standing at the edge, Tonks saw that the hill looked larger, taller up close. She shrugged, seeing that she had nothing else to do for the night and also wanted to know what exactly a Blood Moon was. Everyone seemed to know but her.
Without any further thinking, Tonks began heading into the dark woods, the air becoming colder as she tugged tightly on her robes around her small frame. She huffed, able to see her breath again. A few feet into the woods and Tonks suddenly heard noises. They weren't normal noises of the night. They were hurried footsteps crunching on dead leaves. Her auror instincts kicked in and immediately she had her wand out. Tonks stood still, wary of her surroundings.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large animal that looked like a mix between a dog and a bear jumped over her, its sharp claws barely missing her face as Tonks ducked down but stared at it. One look and immediately one single word played across her mind: werewolf. But the werewolf wasn't the only footsteps she heard. Tonks turned in the direction the werewolf came from and saw a man, a hunter perhaps, running after the wolf with his wand in his hand. He ran head on into Tonks, unable to see her so quickly in the night. He quickly got back on his feet again.
Tonks stumbled back onto her feet as well, rubbing her arm which she'd been full on tackled earlier. She turned and noticed that the wolf hadn't escaped. Instead, it seemed to be standing between two large trees with an opening too small for it to fit through. It was breathing hard, its amber eyes sharp and glaring at the man and its muzzle hanging open, gasping for breath. Tonks wondered why the werewolf didn't attack though. According to Remus Lupin, most werewolves who aren't on wolfsbane don't think twice about attacking humans.
Then Tonks remembered everything that Remus had told her. Her eyes widened as she suddenly lunged herself at the wolf, pushing herself between the large animal with light brown, graying hair as far as she could see under the pale moonlight, and the hunter. She held her wand up at the hunter but glanced back to take a closer look at the wolf.
"What are you doing? Get out of the way! That thing will maul you!" the hunter yelled.
Looking into the wolf's eyes, Tonks felt the same feeling she'd always feel around Remus. She felt warmth and comfort. His eyes were the same the night she saw them in the Shrieking Shack. Though they were amber and of different size and shape, they were still Remus Lupin's kind and gentle eyes. Tonks then knew by her gut feeling that the wolf was Remus. He had told her a few short days ago that on the Blood Moon, even his wards at the Shrieking Shack aren't enough to hold him in and he'd end up wandering the area. Though he wouldn't harm humans while on wolfsbane, his wolfish instincts would take over and he'd be more like the animal. Tonks could see it when she saw the tired but wary gaze in his eyes. She then nodded, knowing the wolf was definitely Remus. She wasn't going to let him get killed that night.
"No!" Tonks replied sternly to the hunter. "Just leave him alone and you'll be fine!"
"Are you mad? It will rip you to pieces! I found it outside my house. It's a dangerous monster!" the man replied. He was tall and heavily built with a rough but stubborn voice.
"He's not going to rip me to pieces," Tonks defended. "He's my friend. Now leave. He won't hurt you and you won't see him again." The man's hazy eyes glared at Tonks skeptically.
The hunter backed up slowly, his wand still raised and his eyes still holding that cold, skeptical gaze at Tonks and the wolf. Tonks hated that gaze so much and if the hunter hadn't backed up a few more steps into the dark where his doubtful eyes were no longer visible, she would have personally kicked him back. She waited for another moment, listening as he left.
She then turned back to the wolf behind her, her wand raised at him. "Lumos," Tonks spoke as a flash of light appeared from her wand, lighting up the face of the werewolf.
The werewolf cringed slightly under the light, using his large paw to cover his eyes as he slowly lowered them once he got used to the bright light. Tonks studied him. Judging by the light brown fur the same shade as Remus' hair, the gentle yet somewhat off gaze, and not attacking her, she was certain he was Remus Lupin. Tonks sighed and lowered her wand once her eyes got more used to the darkness and could see him simply with the moon's pale light.
"Remus, can you understand me?" she asked softly.
The wolf didn't respond, but he just stood there, looking at her.
"I guess not," Tonks sighed. "Wolfish instincts, of course he wouldn't understand me, I don't speak werewolf," Tonks thought to herself as she took a step closer to him.
Her hand was outstretched to him and for a moment, the wary werewolf backed away, but he soon approached her himself, carefully when he saw that she wasn't going to harm him. Tonks got close enough to place her palm on his warm fur, his body heat radiating onto her hand. She immediately recognized that feeling and knew he was Remus. She petted the side of his head and she could see the very same human expression on the wolf's face, the one she recognized.
"You're hurt, aren't you?" she asked him when her hand gently trailed down to his chest and she found a large gash and dried, thick blood clinging to his light fur.
The werewolf watched as Tonks took her wand and placed the tip on his chest. His eyes moved a bit and Tonks could just picture Remus raising an eyebrow at her if he was human. She muttered a healing spell and a warm sensation swept around the wound on his chest. Soon the cut closed and with another quiet cleaning spell, the blood was cleaned. He tilted his head at her.
Watching the werewolf get closer to her, Tonks stood still as he watched her. She knew that he was wondering why a pink haired woman was being so kind to him. She simply smiled. Once again, the human expression on his face made her smile brighter when she remembered the night she caught Remus in the Shrieking Shack and his reaction was exactly the same then.
She thought she should stay with him, less he wandered again and someone else tried to kill him. "Great, you don't understand me. What am I going to do all night?" she smiled.
The wolf responded differently to her. He stood on his hind legs and bent down so his front paws touched the ground. His tuft tail was quirked up as his long snout drew closer to her. Tonks stood still as she could feel his very warm and wild breath fall on her face. She didn't know what he was doing but she felt like he wouldn't hurt her.
He drew closer. "Remus!" Tonks laughed when he suddenly licked her.
The werewolf looked at her again with that same look that Tonks would imagine was Remus' lopsided grin. She shook her head at him, watching as amusement danced in his eyes. "Bloody wolfish instincts," Tonks thought to herself. "Wait, when wolves lick each other, that means they fancy them right? Nah, I'm just thinking too much." Tonks continued to pet him and huffed. "You're lucky you don't understand me or I'd talk your ear off right now."
Again the wolf responded differently for he couldn't understand her. Tonks watched as Remus bent down, his snout almost touching the ground with his elongated back to her. At his boney frame, she wondered how painful that night's transformation had been. Remus turned his amber eyes to her, meeting her dark green ones and motioned with his head for her to get on.
"You want me to climb on your back?" Tonks questioned.
The werewolf nodded and Tonks began to wonder if Remus actually could understand her or not. It was all too confusing, but seeing that she wasn't going to be in any danger, hopefully, Tonks climbed on anyways. She was careful with him and as she got on, Tonks felt ridiculously close to Remus Lupin. She hung onto him tight and her heartbeat skyrocketed at the touch. Tonks could feel his ribs under her stomach and as she wrapped her arms around his neck, she thought that maybe Remus was too skinny for a werewolf.
"Remus you really should eat more. You're like a stick with fur," Tonks laughed gently.
She heard a huff come from the wolf as Remus heaved his chest and let out the air. Tonks laughed a bit louder as she could just picture Remus Lupin, rolling his eyes at her while she was on his back. Tonks continued to feel closer to him as she rested her head on him. Her grip tightened a bit more when he suddenly stood. His elongated back still hunched over to keep her on comfortably but he'd shifted to just standing on his hind legs.
The next thing she knew, Remus was running. She was on his back as he was running to the top of the hill, carefully and skillfully dodging the branches, also worrying about the human on his back at the moment. Tonks held on tight as the blur of trees around her suddenly made everything seem so surreal. The cold air didn't affect her as much when she was holding onto him because Remus' intense body heat was enough to keep her warm.
"Bloody hell," Tonks breathed, looking around at the fast moving forest as Remus continued to make his way up the hill. Everything felt like a dream.
Not long after, Tonks and Remus in his werewolf form were at the top of the hill, standing in a middle of a large clearing beside a pond or lake of some sort. Tonks never knew that there was a place like that at Hogsmeade all the years she'd been there, but she was glad the place existed. The man she ran into earlier at Hogsmeade was right. She did have a good view of the moon there. Standing on high grounds, Tonks felt like she could actually reach out and touch the cold, pale moon. She looked around, taking in her surroundings and smiling.
Standing beside her was Remus Lupin, a werewolf under the pale moonlight. Beside them was a calm and quiet pond, reflecting their images and that of the moon in its crystal clear water. Tonks could hear the sounds of the forest around her. Standing there, she felt oddly peaceful, oddly relaxed. She was standing beside a werewolf under the full moon at a lake side, and feeling comfortable and relaxed.
Remus suddenly settled down on a soft patch of grass and dried leaves a few feet away, his eyes looking at her. Tonks simply stood there and watched him as he curled up. After a while, he raised his head and gave her a human look as if beckoning her to come over.
"You want me to sit there?" Tonks asked softly, amused.
He shifted his body gently and made an opening at his side where she could lay down. Tonks still wondered if Remus could understand her, but obviously she wouldn't get a straight and definite answer if she asked. She walked over and settled herself comfortably beside him, laying her back on his side as Remus' legs curled up around her, hugging safely to the mould of her small body without hurting her. She was lying in the arms of a werewolf, and yet she felt completely warm and comfortable. Tonks sighed and leaned back. Her life has always been rather odd. Maybe spending another night with a friendly werewolf wasn't too surprising.
She laid in his hold for a while, Remus' snout close beside her head. She could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, his warm breath stroking her face and his intense body heat warming her, making her forget how chilly and icy the air was.
Then, following Remus' eyes, Tonks turned to gaze up at the moon. She watched in awe as the change she'd never expected began to take place. The moon overhead had been cold and pale as a corpse, but it suddenly began changing. It was as if a cloud had casted over the moon as it changed from a pale, milky silver to blood red. The blood red moon now hung above them, looking down as if imposing danger and fear. It truly was breathtaking. She gazed at the moon, sensing the irony in the air. The blood red moon seemed like a harbinger for danger and fear, but at that moment, she didn't feel any danger or fear. Lying in Remus Lupin's arms, even if he was a werewolf, she felt safe and protected…loved. Tonks shook her head, ignoring the irony and the underlying meaning of things. Instead, she relaxed and gazed upon the blood red moon, her body fitting in perfectly with Remus'. She was warm in his arms despite the sharp and cold winds.
After a short moment once the moon was entirely red, Tonks felt Remus raise his head again. She knew what to expect when he did that. He was a werewolf after all. The next thing she heard was a howl. It was a deep and longing howl, but unlike the ones she'd heard from him before, that one wasn't painful or sorrowful. She didn't picture Remus crying when he gave that howl. Instead, that howl sounded almost like a serenade. It was deep and beautiful. Tonks could oddly describe it as romantic almost. Tonks turned to look at him as he flexed his jaw, howling at the moon. From her angle, it looked like he could swallow the blood red moon with his large bite. Remus howled again, serenading her a second time and then finally settling his head back to its previous position, beside her face.
Lying there with him, a strange feeling overtook her. It was a feeling she'd like to feel again. It was a pleasant feeling. To Nymphadora Tonks, for lack of better word, she decided to call that a loving feeling. It made her wonder if what she had with Remus was just like others have said, more than simple friendship after all.
"Merlin Remus," Tonks spoke, her hand stroking his soft fur as his soft amber eyes connected absently with hers. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in love with me. You licked me and you howled for me, it's all things that wolves did when they fancy each other, right?" Tonks smiled. For a moment she did allow herself to think that Remus was in love with her. After all, if his wolfish instincts took over most of his mind, maybe his instincts wanted him to show his true feelings towards her as well. Tonks sighed. She shook her head and quickly dismissed that thought as she continued to stroke his fur. "It's odd. For the past two months I've been here, I've spent both full moons with you, and I'm still unscathed," she smiled. "You're not so dangerous Remus, and I'm living proof." She sat in his arms, continuing to stroke him. Tonks felt her heart beat at an irregular rhythm, her stomach in knots. She felt happy and flustered, warm and protected. Sitting there with him, even if he was a wolf, it still felt like sitting with Remus Lupin, and Tonks felt that she was in love. She stared absently at him while thinking: "I think I'm falling in love with you Remus Lupin."
Like yesterday and the day before, instead of being at dinner, Alexis was sitting under the large oak tree in the east courtyard again, gazing at the night sky while working on the many reports and research she still had to do as an Unspeakable. She leaned back on the tree, flipping through pages after pages of a long report she had to study. Her decision to skip dinner was because of Marrick. She knew he could tell when she's lying. She didn't know how he could, but she knew he could. She needed to keep him from finding out about Sirius, for a little while longer until she could think of a certain plan to help her wrongfully accused cousin. So until she could think of that plan, she decided that avoiding Marrick's questioning gaze would be best.
From where she sat under the large oak tree, Alexis could see the dark silhouettes of the tree branches framing the night sky. Overhead the moon was cold, still and pale. It casted a faint chilling light over Alexis and where she laid under the tree. She turned away from her papers for a moment and placed her hands behind her head as she leaned back on the tree, sighing wistfully.
Lying under the tree and gazing at the moon, she suddenly thought of her parents. She could still picture their faces clearly, every detail, every feature. From within her thin khaki jacket casted by a heating charm, she took out a picture folded into fours. She unfolded it. The picture was old and yellowing and its edges were torn. In the picture she saw her younger self, chasing a paper swallow at what was her old home, far away from England. Kneeling beside her were her parents. Her father laughing, his grin very much like hers as he charmed the swallow to fly around, while her mother was trying to settle her down for the picture. Her father had raven black hair, sharp features and dark eyes, just like hers. Like the other men in the Black family, he was darkly handsome with an air of aristocratic hauteur, but standing with his family, he was a loving father. Her mother was beautiful with dirty blonde hair and soft, kind features. She saw that only her mouth looked like her mother, everything else was her fathers. She looked at the old picture longingly. Alexis smiled wistfully again. She remembered when she used to be very active and jumpy just like the girl in the picture, but something had happened that seemed to have taken all the energy and eagerness away from her, something that took everything away.
"Skipping dinner for some soul searching I see," a familiar low and playful voice spoke.
She quickly snapped out of her longing thoughts. Alexis looked up to see the bright, grinning face of George Weasley as he sat down next to her, glancing at her papers. She quickly closed all her folders, careful so George wouldn't suspect anything. Alexis smiled at him and from behind him she could see his twin brother Fred nodding at them and then disappearing into the long corridors of Hogwarts.
"Funny, I thought twins were next to each other twenty-four-seven," Alexis smirked.
George laughed and leaned back casually on the tree. "That's what everyone thinks, but it's really not true. We're twins, sure we're very much alike, but we have our own lives too," he smirked. "Freddie's going to meet with Angelina in the library and I didn't want to be a third wheel. So here I am," he spoke conversationally.
"So basically, you've been ditched by your own twin. That's pretty sad," Alexis teased.
George sat up and stuck his tongue out at her, his grin broadening as he met her eyes. "Well why are you out here? It's bloody freezing and you skipped dinner for some soul searching and writing essays?" he joked, picking up her folders.
She casually took them away from him, not wanting him to see anything he shouldn't see. "If it's cold, go back inside kiddo," she teased him, placing her folders onto a small pile.
He scoffed and drew his knees up to his chest as he sat looking at her. "Kiddo? You make it sound like you're ancient. Let me remind you you're only a year older than me," he grinned. "And I'm bigger and taller than you. I'm no kiddo."
She shook her head and laughed. Somehow, she always could manage a smile around George and Fred Weasley. "True, true," she nodded. He was bigger and taller than her.
"So are you out here because you're mad at Marrick?" he suddenly asked.
"What?"
"You've skipped dinner for the past three days. Marrick said you're mad at him because of something he said a few days ago when you were missing and he was looking for you."
"Well I'm not mad at him," she admitted. "I just don't really want to see him."
"Whatever it is, I think you should talk to him about it," George spoke and nodded. He suddenly seemed less of the childish prankster at that moment. "He really cares about you, you know. When you were missing, he was freaking out looking around for you," George tried to smile and make his tone sound teasingly as he remembered that night. When Marrick said Lexi was missing, he too had a mini heart attack worrying about her.
"Did Marrick ask you to come out and talk to me?" Alexis asked, smirking at him.
"No," he smiled. "I came on my own. As you said, I was ditched by my own twin. I just think that you shouldn't be mad at him, he really cares about you. Besides, you've been skipping dinner. We missed your snide remarks on Marrick and you teasing Tonks at dinner. Ron and his friends are less rowdy without you and Tonks. And Tonks skipped dinner tonight too."
She nodded with a contemplative face. "Guess I'll have to talk with Kingston then," she sighed. "And I have been getting hungry late in the night lately since I didn't eat dinner."
"Well consider yourself lucky because I brought you food," George smirked as he pulled out a package of pumpkin pasties and two bottles of butterbeer from inside his robes. He handed her pasties and one bottle of butterbeer after he opened them, smirking when she raised her eyebrow, wondering how he smuggled the drink in with McGonagall's piercing eyes. "So why do you like this tree so much? I see you out here often," George asked as Lexi ate.
She wondered if he was actually taking notice to her. Alexis looked at him, seeing him to be less obnoxious and childish from how he was normally when he was around his twin. She shrugged. "It's peaceful here. And I feel closer to my parents." Alexis suddenly paused. She's becoming more like Tonks lately, slipping up and saying things she shouldn't.
George looked up at the sky, unknowingly scooting closer to her. "Your parents? Can't you just write to them? My mum writes to me and Fred all the time. A bit annoying really."
She laughed softly and shook her head. He was still a teenager after all. "I can't write to my parents," she replied conversationally. "They're dead. It'd be sort of impossible." She herself was surprised by her conversational tone. She could never have said those words without choking up but yet, around George Weasley she could. He made her feel comfortable, somehow.
George suddenly looked at her, his eyes losing its mischievous glint and replacing that glint with comforting warmth. Alexis mentally wondered if George Weasley was actually being sentimental and comforting. She could never picture the mischievous prankster to do that.
"I'm sorry," he spoke, his face not grinning but shifting into an apologetic expression.
If Lexi wasn't busy drinking her butterbeer, she might have actually raised an eyebrow and cock her head to the side at the expression on his face she thought could never be found on one of the Weasley twins. "It…it's fine. I've gotten over that a long time ago," she replied softly.
He nodded. He didn't show her pity or sympathy like she expected, and she was glad he didn't. Alexis was annoyed whenever people pitied her, being orphaned with no parents. Instead, George Weasley showed her compassion and comfort. "Your parents must have been great people then, seeing how well you turned out," he spoke in a soft tone. Again, Alexis was amazed. She was beginning to wonder if this was really George Weasley at all. It was a side of him she'd never seen before. He wasn't trying to impress anyone. He was secretly being himself. She felt as though this was how he is around his twin, when they're going through bad times.
"They were pretty good people," she nodded. "My dad at first seems a bit intimidating, but he's actually really kind and funny. My mum's the scarier one, but she's still nice as well." She couldn't believe it. Was she actually telling this teenager who she's known for two months, about her family? And said teenager was George Weasley, infamous troublemaker.
"How did they die?" George asked, quelling his curiosity and wanting to know her better.
Alexis was quiet for a moment, her eyes distant and her mask seemingly fallen. "My family's a little messed up. They're purebloods and value blood purity. My father offended a few people when he defended some people who were half bloods or muggleborns. Later, they say he was a blood traitor and he and my mother got killed because of it. I was almost killed too, but luckily my cousin barged in and saved me," she spoke. Alexis suddenly paused again. She was becoming too much like Tonks, needing to watch her own mouth. She discreetly glanced at George, worrying that her cover as a student there was blown.
"It must have been hard to lose them like that," George comforted her. "But at least you know they died for a noble cause. You should be proud of them," he smiled softly.
That was the first time she told someone other than Tonks or family something so personal about her, and it was also the first time she received comforting words that she liked. Surprisingly, they all came from a suddenly sentimental George Weasley. "Thanks George."
"Did you know who killed them though?"
"Well, I've already gone this far, a little more wouldn't hurt," she thought to herself as she turned to look at him. For the first time she noticed George Weasley had comforting and warm hazel brown eyes. "Bellatrix Lestrange," she replied, cursing the ghastly woman.
His eyes lit up momentarily. "I've heard my dad mention her. She's some psycho woman from the Black family. He said she's locked up in Azkaban now."
"Yeah, she's a psycho alright," Alexis sighed, thinking about her own aunt. She continued to study him, the young man with flaming red hair, fair skin, hazel brown eyes, and a sentimental side of him that not many got to see. Then she smiled and for a moment, Alexis noticed George's eyes light up. "You know Georgie, I never could imagine you as the sentimental type," she teased softly, trying to turn the conversation to a different direction.
He grinned and chuckled softly. "Not many do. Only Freddie knows."
"It's nice," she smiled. "You're funny and cool, but you're also sentimental and sensitive as well. I bet if girls knew that, they'd be buzzing all over you," she teased.
George grinned again, broadly, his eyes squinting a bit from how big his grin was. "Girls already do buzz around me," he replied, his eyes still without its mischievous glint. "It's just that I don't like most of them. Unlike Fred who's found Angelina, I've still got no one to fancy."
"You're a little picky then aren't you?" Alexis teased.
He shook his head. "Most girls I know are too shallow and can't even take a joke. They only care about money and status, at least the ones I know. Not you of course. They're looking for a completely serious relationship, but I want there to be some fun and jokes in a relationship too. The girls all want those flowery worded romances where I'd have to sing for them under their window or something," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'd rather play a prank for them under their window. Besides, my family's poor, and my mum's way too motherly. If I ever get a girlfriend, they'd have to get along with my mum and she can be a little up your neck sometimes. She cares too much. I bet you if she could, she'd adopt the whole world."
Alexis laughed softly, her sorrows of being without parents forgotten around him. "Your mum sounds like a wonderful woman, wanting to adopt the world. And you'll find your perfect match someday. Then you can play pranks under her window and make her laugh."
"Yeah," George nodded. "I like making people laugh. Sometimes, a little bit of laughter can do wonders," he grinned, his lopsided signature Weasley grin. "And my mum, you should meet her. She'd adopt you too and anyone else she could feed," he teased. "Solve world hunger by setting Molly Weasley on the loose," he grinned. She liked George Weasley. She could sense a friendly connection with him. He has a sensitive and sentimental side that he hides under a mask of mischief and indifference, just like her. She felt comfortable with him.
They sat together, talking, making each other laugh with jokes and humorous stories. Soon Alexis could see the Blood Moon rising. The cold and pale moon shifted slowly as if a red cloud had casted over it. The moon turned blood red, a sight she had been waiting to see all night. Alexis saw George's mouth hang open in awe, his grin on his face as he watched the wickedly awesome sight. She gazed at the moon for a while, discreetly casting a heating charm on the boy as he seemed to be getting cold under his thin robes. He glanced at her and smiled. Obviously she failed at being discreet and George noticed. Then in the distance, Alexis could hear a very long howl, sounding like a serenade of sort.
After spending a few hours out in the cold night watching the Blood Moon with George Weasley, Alexis returned to her sleeping area on the third floor, her cheeks flushed pink when the heating charm had worn off without her realizing it. She walked in, surprised to see Marrick lying on his bed, seeming to be waiting for her instead of patrolling the halls. She raised an eyebrow at him. That night had been an odd night. She'd met a sentimental George Weasley. She was beginning to think that maybe Marrick had sent George out to talk to her into talking to him.
"You're sleeping early," Alexis commented conversationally.
"You're sleeping late," he replied in the same tone, knowing she usually slept very early.
"Did you send George out to talk to me?" she asked him as she walked over to her bed.
"No. He just left halfway through dinner with Fred, saying they had to be somewhere."
"Hmm," she nodded, pondering as she crawled into her warm blanket and sighed.
"Where's Tonks?"
"She said she's going to Hogsmeade for the night. Probably at the Three Broomsticks."
"Oh. Why didn't you go?"
"Believe it or not Kingston, we each need our personal time to ourselves."
"Right, sorry." He was quiet for a while after that and Alexis was just about to drift into sleep in her warm blanket until he started speaking again. "Alexis I'm sorry," he apologized.
"What?" she replied lazily while sitting up and looking into his dusty emerald eyes.
"I…I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. I was just worried about you."
She smirked. He usually never shied, even when she gave him icy glares, but now he was shying slightly. "Thanks for worrying," she smiled.
"I didn't want you and Tonks to end up doing something that could ruin both of you."
She nodded. "I admit Tonks and I are up to something…that to others is perhaps very reckless, very stupid and crazy," she spoke vaguely but truthfully. "But we trust ourselves in this one, and we feel that it's the right thing to do."
After a short silence, Marrick suddenly spoke. "I care for you and I trust you. I won't interfere with whatever it is you're doing. But please know when to pull back and stop."
"Got it," she smiled. "You care for me?" she teased and suddenly noticed him blushing.
It was late. The sun has set and the full moon had passed yesterday. She was supposed to be patrolling the halls or finishing auror reports. But that night, after her experience with a blood red October full moon and a wandering werewolf Remus Lupin, she decided that she needed to speak with him. Tonks skipped the Halloween Feast that night, needing to speak with Remus instead to make sure he was ok. He was well enough to teach class that day, but he looked ill and they didn't have a chance to talk at all. Tonks however did notice that he kept smiling at her and looking at her when she apparently wasn't looking back. Tonks huffed. She was standing in front of the wooden door to his office. It was so late. She wondered if she'd be bothering him.
"A small conversation to tell him about Sirius and to check up on a friend wouldn't be too much right? Right, just to check up on a friend and tell him about Sirius," she thought to herself as she drummed her knuckles on the wooden door several times.
"Who is it?" she heard faintly from inside, his hoarse but soft voice muffled by the door.
"It's me, Tonks," she replied, listening closely to hear him a little bit clearer.
"Come in, the door's open," Remus replied.
When Tonks walked in, she stumbled through the doorway, tripping over what looked like glass tank with an angry bowtruckle sitting beside the door. Remus chuckled softly as he closed his book and got up to help her regain herself. He looked tired, ill, and worn. His robes were shabbier and more casual than usual. His shabby tan jumper had a few buttons remaining open around his chest, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his trousers were old and comfortable. His hair was short and light brown, flecked with more grey, she could see. He looked sick, but his expression was warm. They walked over to his threadbare sofa and sat down.
"Are you having trouble sleeping?" he asked her, thinking she looked tired as well.
Tonks shook her head. "I just wanted to check if my friend is alright. You said that on a Blood Moon, the transformation is worse, and last night…you were even wandering the woods. You didn't look too well today in class and I was worried the Blood Moon's pull had taken more of a toll last night," she spoke softly.
Remus' warm blue eyes lit up a bit as he turned his body to face her. "I've looked worse, trust me," he replied. "Listen Tonks…uh…about last night, I'm sorry."
She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. "Why are you sorry?"
"You had to spend the moon with me again. I'm very grateful because if not for you I'd probably be hurt or have hurt someone trying to defend myself. But I know it must be…"
"Remus, it's ok," she smiled. She didn't know why she cared so much for him. Maybe it was because he'd been through so much and she admired him for being able to keep on going that she cared just a little bit more. "I'd never paid attention to the moon cycle. Last night, though I admit it was a bit odd, it was still pretty great," she smiled softly. "I'd never seen a moon that up close and never lie in the paws of a werewolf before and still be protected."
"I could have hurt you."
"But you didn't and you never could have. Remus Lupin, you wouldn't hurt a fly."
He smiled. His smiled turned from wan to warm and Tonks was amused as she watched how he waxes as the moon wanes. "Nymphadora, thank you. Thank you for caring so much. No one's ever worried or been as close a friend to me as you for a very long time. I've been cursed with lycanthropy for so long, and it's nice to have someone who cares for me like you."
Tonks reached for his hand and took it gently, smiling. She could feel his warmth on her skin and she felt the same loving sensation she felt for him last night. Looking into his eyes, dark green meeting soft blue ones, she felt the same feeling last night as well. She felt warm, protected, and loved. Tonks knew that werewolf or human, she was falling in love with him. She smiled wistfully, knowing he didn't feel the same, because Remus only saw her as a friend.
"Remus, you don't have to tell me…but how did you become a werewolf?"
He was quiet for a moment, but he chose to answer her, slowly, in a low and almost bitter voice. "I was five," he began. "My father offended Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf. Greyback was known to purposely position himself near children during the full moon so he could bite them and turn them into werewolves with him. He bit me as a way to get back at my father. He was about to take me with him, but my parents fought him and got me back."
Tonks didn't know what to do. Remus' voice was so soft and broken that he made her heart fall to pieces listening to him. He didn't tell her a story, just a summary of what happened, but the haunted and depressed look in his eyes did more than a story could ever do. It made her want to do whatever it takes to take that burden and pain away from him.
"On my first moon," Remus began again. "I was so scared." His voice broke and her heart broke along with it. Remus trusted her with his feelings, with his emotions. He didn't know why or how the connection formed, but he felt a connection to her. He felt stronger, happier around her. He felt more comfortable, like he could do anything with her. Remus paused for a moment. He felt like he loves her. Mentally he shook his head and backed away, dismissing the thought as he continued his words. "I didn't know what was happening. Then I just felt pain, a lot, a lot of pain. I didn't know what I did when I turned into a wolf. Just that when I woke up in the morning, I was still in pain." His voice was barely above a whisper. Tonks moved closer to him, unknowingly lost in his sad blue eyes. "My mother took care of me. My father told me it would be alright. But I knew…they looked at me differently. They looked at me…as if they feared me. They were afraid of me. I felt so alone, so scared. I couldn't play with other kids, what if I hurt them? And werewolves were discriminated upon, they wouldn't accept me. Even my parents were afraid of me," Remus sighed, his voice hitched. He was telling her something…that no one else knew about him. He was voicing to her his heart. Not even the Marauders knew that.
"Remus," Tonks breathed. She hadn't realized it, but she was holding him now. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder as he did to her. He was warm and she could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest and the gentleness of his calloused but warm skin, just like yesterday during the Blood Moon. "You don't deserve any of it." It was all she could say. What do you say to a man who had been through what he's been through?
His arms were around her slim waist. He was holding onto her, for support or for comfort for what he didn't know. He just knew that somehow, she accepted him. Somehow she didn't care and didn't look at him differently and it made him feel better. He didn't know why, but holding onto Tonks made him forget being a werewolf and the years of loneliness and secret fear he'd gone through. It was all so wrong but it felt so right. He knew he shouldn't get close to her because she was too good for him. She was a beautiful, young, and brilliant auror. She had a bright future. She deserved so much better than him, but Remus felt that he needed someone like her. She made him happier. She made him feel loved. Nymphadora Tonks made him feel like there was a place for him in the world and that he wasn't trash. Remus felt warm…and loved with her. But he thought she would never feel the same way.
They both think the other would never feel the same way about their love. But little did they know, they were both oh so very wrong. She felt a feeling she vaguely described as love with him. And he felt a feeling he knew was certainly love with her.
"Remus, you don't have to be alone anymore. There are people who aren't afraid of you."
"The only ones I know are the Marauders and you. But they're all gone, and you're the only one left. But that's all I need. Thank you Nymphadora, for accepting me."
Tonks smiled softly. She didn't even have the heart to yell at him for using her dreadful first name. "What if I say that they're not all gone?" she asked him, needing to speak about Sirius now. Remus needed a new hope, another friend who cares for him. "Remus, I know you hate Sirius for what he's done, but he's still alive."
Again, Remus was quiet for a long time. Yes, he was disappointed and mad at the man for betraying them, but he could never say he hated the man. Remus had allowed his upset with Sirius to go on long enough. He suddenly wanted to tell Tonks how he truly felt about the man that was her cousin. "I don't hate him," Remus spoke softly. "I'm sad and disappointed with him, but I could never hate an old friend. In fact, I miss him." Remus paused, thinking about his words and laughed a bit, bitterly. "I don't miss the insane, homicidal lunatic he is now. No. I miss the playful, completely not serious, Sirius Black from my time at Hogwarts. He was my best friend," he spoke softly, his eyes distant as he thought about the man.
"What if I say he's innocent?" Tonks asked, beginning to smile.
"I want him to be innocent too, trust me," Remus sighed. "I'd rather live with the guilt that I've thought wrong of him all these years than know that my best friend betrayed me and another best friend of ours. I want him to be innocent, because then, at least I'd still have the one friend I thought I lost. But all the evidence points towards him in being the one who betrayed James and Lily Potter. He even killed poor, innocent Peter."
"Evidence alone can't prove a person guilty or innocent," Tonks spoke, remembering it as something Mad-Eye Moody had told her during auror training. She thought for a moment and remembered Mad-Eye did say those exact words to her during training. "Remus, a few days ago when Lexi and I were supposedly missing, we ran into Sirius in the woods." That got his full attention. Remus looked up at her with surprised eyes. "We both made a reckless, perhaps stupid move when we sat down and talked to him instead of capturing him, but he was our cousin and we trusted him. Lexi even used Veritaserum. Sirius told us that he never betrayed the Potters. He wasn't even their secret keeper. Peter Pettigrew was and it was Pettigrew who betrayed them."
"But…Peter's dead," Remus spoke, listening intently, dancing on a whim of hope.
Tonks shook her head. "No, Peter is Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. He was the one who betrayed the Potters. Sirius told them to make Peter their secret keeper because Voldemort wouldn't suspect him as much as Sirius. Peter betrayed them, framed Sirius, and escaped. He's been hiding as Ron's pet rat Scabbers for twelve years."
Remus shook his head. He was in disbelief. For twelve years he'd gone thinking that Sirius was the secret keeper, Sirius was the traitor, and now Tonks is telling him differently, and a strong part of him wants to believe her.
"I know you won't believe me Remus," she sighed, but she didn't look like she was giving up. "When you feel better, I'll take you to see Sirius."
"He's here at Hogwarts." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
She nodded and slowly removed her arms from around his neck as she pulled away from him, hesitantly. Tonks looked into his gentle blue eyes and knew that he wanted to believe her too, but what she told him was going back on everything he'd known for twelve years. She knew he was going to need some solid proof. Tonks only hoped that the scrap of paper Sirius had with the picture of the Weasley family and Peter Pettigrew as Scabbers on it was enough.
How was it? I hope it was ok ^_^