Can I Give You A Kiss
It was an abnormally cold night in London. December the 31st. Eleven forty pm.
One lonely Auror was standing just so inside the narrow alley that she was entirely hidden by shadows. Her warm breath came out in white clouds, but they dissolved fast.
Nymphadora Tonks glanced at her watch and hugged her arms around herself.
She had been standing on this spot for one hour and forty minutes. Keeping an eye open for a Death Eater, who was supposed to start a massacre right in the open space accross from her. There was a park, where groups of Muggles prepared themselves for welcoming the new year. Due to the freezing temperature the number of people was limited to maybe five dozen.
The thing was: not one Order member believed that there would be an attack. It had only been a vague information, passed on from Rosmerta in Hogsmeade to Dumbledore through ten other people. Apart from that, it was highly unlikely that Voldemort or his followers had any interest in murdering a bunch of Muggles out there in the suburbs. Lately their strategy had been to murder and torture in the unknown. Therefore they had sent Tonks, who - of course - had accepted her task with enthusiasm.
'Bugger, I'm freezing,' she thought and started hopping from one foot to the other.
She hadn't expected time to stretch like it did, because of what she hadn't bothered to bring a bottle of hot chocolate or tea.
Her eyes swept the place she faced. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. Oh, how much she'd prefer Grimmauld Place right now. She imagined sitting in the library with Sirius and Remus, who were really entertaining company, the fireplace burning merrily. They'd drink and play cards until the old clock in the corner rang twelve times and maybe, maybe she would have gotten a New Year's kiss from Remus.
She sighed. Daydreaming didn't help, especially when she had to keep her eyes alert to anything out of the ordinary, as unlikely as that might seem.
A glance at her watch. Ten minutes till midnight. If she were to set off now, she'd still make it to Grimmauld Place.
Tonks shook her head, her normally vibrant pink hair today a dark brown, so as not to draw any attention. She looked at her hands. The tips of her frozen fingers were just peeking out of the gloves.
Accross the street she saw a man with a small wagon walking towards the gathering of people. There was a Starbucks sign on the roof of the vehicle. How she wished she could go over and get herself a hot steaming chocolate. But she wasn't allowed to show herself, apart from any emergency situation.
Her freezing her limbs off wouldn't classify, she knew. Although she was sure Dumbledore wouldn't sack her for getting something to warm herself.
Maybe she'd catch Remus awake still, when she got back to Headquarters. He would surely be nice enough to supply her with some tea or so.
Thinking of Remus made her a tad warmer. She smiled to herself absently while scanning the Muggles in the park for anyone or anything she hadn't seen yet.
Nothing.
Watch. One minute to twelve.
A halfloud crack at the other end of the alley made Tonks jump. She tensed and swirled around and her wand was out in a flash, pointed directly towards the dark figure opposite her.
Then she saw something silver and bright slowly glide towards her. She could just make out the outline of an eagle through the glow.
"Don't fire, Nymphadora, it's just me." the patronus spoke. She didn't even need the voice to know exactly who it was.
Only one person just couldn't be convinced to not call her Nymphadora. She felt a sigh of utter relief go through her whole body, and before she had even lowered her wand enough to not do any harm, Remus was very close before her and stared into her eyes dreamily.
Tonks' breath caught. "What are you doing here?" she choked out.
"I came to get you." Remus answered quietly. He stepped even closer and Tonks could feel his warmth.
Furthermore she could feel a great bunch of butterflies awaken inside her.
"Why didn't you just send a patronus?" She was awed by herself for thinking so clearly, despite the fact that she could smell Remus and even almost feel him.
"It woud have been too late," he whispered. In the background noise she was not aware of the Muggles counting from ten backwards.
"Too late for what?" she whispered, adopting his volume of voice. Remus smirked and put one hand on her waist, the other settling on the back of her neck.
Tonks' heart leapt. She held her breath.
"For this."
Amidst the cheers of the Muggles in the park, Remus bent down towards her and very gently pressed his lips to hers.
After maybe two seconds, Tonks gathered her senses and moved her head to the side, consequently deepening the kiss. Remus pulled her even tighter towards him in response.
He ran his tongue over her lips, making her part them in return. Tonks' heart hammered in her chest, her wildest dreams coming true. Well, maybe not her wildest. But a good one was it, no question.
All too soon, he pulled away from her, watching her uncertainly. Of course, it was not his routine to be so bold. But she rather liked it this way.
And so she smiled reassuringly.
"Happy New Year, Nymphadora..." he all but breathed in her ear, sending goosbumps up and down her body.
"Don't-" she started and then thought better of it. "Happy New Year, Remus."
They regarded each other for several moments until something seemed to snap inside his head.
"Let's get back to Sirius, I hexed the clock five minutes backwards, and told him I'd be back before midnight."
Remus let go of her and offered his hand, looking back at her hopefully.
Tonks just placed a wide smile on her face and took his wonderfully warm hand.
They walked hand in hand to the end of the alley where they disappeared with a crack.
End.
