A/N: TPOV
Looking down the titles she saw a lot of what one would expect to see:Quantitative Potion Analysis, Organic Potion Brewing, Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, A Practical Guide to Runes, Tales of Beedle the Bard, and two worn and well referenced Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions textbooks. The next shelf held titles such as Irish Inspirations: Tales from Gaelic Folklore andContemporary Sociological Theory. Special interests of his? Tonks wondered as her hands trailed over the spines of each of the books. She couldn't help but imagine what the Gaelic folklore would sound like spoken by him. The ancient tales brought to life with his deep and resonating voice.
Continuing along the shelf her fingers froze on a blue spine, Screw the Roses, Give me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the book from the shelf. As a Hufflepuf, Tonks knew all about hard work, but as an auror she preferred her hard work to be active rather than passive. However, she also knew the value of learning everything one could about an enemy. Did she consider Severus an enemy? No, but he certainly was a challenge, one that she had no intention of losing. Opening the book and reading from the start, she moved as if in a trance to the sitting area located next to the bookshelf. Choosing a large black leather armchair she sat down, curling her legs under herself, eyes darting along the pages. As she read, she couldn't help but relate the various lessons and instructions to her and Severus, wondering if he would follow them, wondering if she could.
She was deep within the book, smiling at the light-hearted presentation, finding herself more and more at ease with the concepts presented. She had read about the communication required, the trust that was necessary, the fulfilling exchange of control and found that while her anxiety and excitement remained, the foreboding pit in her stomach had dulled to an almost forgettable twinge. The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped her head up as she simultaneously snapped the book closed, her cheeks darkening in a deep blush. The blush deepened in a way she hadn't realized possible when she realized that it was Severus who was standing there. Her goal had origionally been to wait until he returned, now she almost wanted him to leave again so that she could read some more…or at least put the book back before she was caught.
"Enjoying yourself, Tonks?"
She winced, surprised at how much it hurt to hear him use the name she had tried so long to get him to use in the first place. Looking down she realized that not only was she comfortably curled up in his chair, but she still held his book. She jumped up, intending to put the book back and try to get in a more dignified position. As she rushed to get out of the chair, her legs tangled under her. She held the book close in her right hand, protecting it, as she tried to brace herself with her left. As her left hand scraped against the stone floor, her knees impacting shortly after, she gritted her teeth against the pain. She didn't know which hurt more, her bruised hands and knees or her bruised pride. On her knees in front of Severus, she was as far from the firm, dignified, I can handle anything you can dish out stance that she had intended when she had first chosen to wait him out.