"Nymphadora, please!" I protested, in a way I hoped was stubborn, "You know why I'm doing this. I'm too old, too dangerous, too unsafe for you. And you know I would never be able to make enough money to support us."
"How many times have I told you? I-DON'T-CARE!" she shouted, tears running down her cheeks, hair turning red, "And don't call me Nymphadora!"
"Okay, Tonks it is. But you knew this was never going to work. We can't be together…." I continued, slightly more quietly then before. I knew that when she lost control with her morphing I had gone too far.
"I love you, Remus. Why can't you understand that? I love you too much to care that you're old and poor and dangerous and thick enough to ignore true love when it stands right in front of you, shouting in your face. Being an Auror pays well, I can support us both, and my parents could easily afford a simple wedding. You're fighting for a lost cause because I'm never going to give up on you. Werewolf or not, you're still the same person. Or has being part wolf messed up your brain?" she cried, no longer shouting.
"What if it was a full moon and I accidentally bit you? What then? Dora, you'd hate being a werewolf. I hate it, all of us do," I explained, helplessly. Why didn't she understand the danger it would put us both in? With Voldemort back and his Death Eaters on the loose…. I shuddered, not wanting to think about what could happen.
Knowing that she was going to win, Tonks replied, smugly, "I can make the potion that that stupid old traitor, Snape, made you the year you taught at Hogwarts. I got an "O" in my potions NEWT, didn't I? And even if I couldn't, I wouldn't care if I got bit. At least... at least you wouldn't be alone."
I didn't even bother to reply. Why was it that I could never win an argument with her? I looked straight into her eyes, now a deep purple-ish blue, probably to show her sadness. Her hair had returned to its natural mousy brown colour, which was bad. When Tonks didn't bother to screw around with its shade, something was seriously wrong. She was crying silently, staring down at her feet.
"I'm sorry, Dora," I mumbled quietly, not breaking eye contact. I couldn't bear seeing her so sad; it made my heart ache. My throat felt choked, my eyes sore. Before I knew what was happening, I was crying even more than she was. How could I have been stupid enough to think that I could possibly live without her? Look at me, bawling at the very thought of it. She was right: love can conquer anything. "I love you too," I managed to croak, "Could you possibly ever forgive me?"
"On one condition, and I think you know perfectly well what it is," she replied, smiling through a veil of tears. Rolling my eyes, I bent down on one knee, and reached one hand inside the pocket of my patched robes.
"Here goes nothing. Will you, Nymphadora Tonks, marry me, Remus Lupin, for some strange and God forsaken reason?" I asked, opening the little box to reveal a gold ring, topped with a little diamond. I had saved up for nearly a year for it, even selling some stolen cauldrons for Mundungus, and gambling. This was not how I pictured giving it to her; I imagined a slightly more romantic scene, possibly a posh restaurant or else a beach, but never in a moldy room the Hog's Head, where we were staying. I fact, for a few weeks I had seriously contemplated returning it to the store and not proposing at all.
"Yes. Yes! YES! YES-YES-YES-YES-YES!" Dora shouted jumping up and down, hair her favorite shade of bubblegum pink. She had had no idea I had even purchased a ring yet, and was probably surprised that I could afford one so expensive looking. I stood up and slipped the ring on her slim finger. Suddenly, she threw her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. We stood there for ages, possibly hours, holding each other, kissing, and crying.