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This is my last addition to this fic, in the form of a short story ^_^
Tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter and I'm not JKR.
~Remus~
I took hurried, haunted steps down the narrow, dimly lit corridor towards the quarters for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I knew it would be empty, and I had to escape. Rain battered against the windows as if it were trying to force its way in, and the sense of sadness was heightened by the soft sound of sobbing coming from some of the portraits on the walls. The shock and grief vibrating in the air all around threatened to overwhelm me, though I fought to stay calm. This school brought back so many memories, good and bad. But now the bad outweighed the good by far.
Unwillingly my mind recalled what had happened in the hospital wing. So he was… - I forced myself to mentally repeat it “ dead. The man who had been so kind, so understanding… one of the few people who accepted me as a man, not a filthy half-blood. My view of the floor blurred slightly.
No… I must stay strong, support the others, and not give in to grief. He wouldn’t want us to. This time, my will can't fail me.
I tried to think of something else.
~Tonks~
I couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t. This was not happening.
I ran as the rain poured outside. The deafening echo of my footsteps on the cold stones of Hogwarts castle seemed to haunt me, and I ran faster still. The faint torchlight sent the dark shadows of the suits of armour on either side of me across my path.
I ran up a steep flight of stairs onto the next landing, and kept running, through the door, around the corner…
It had to be a dream. When I woke up in the morning, no one would be dead, and I would not be fatally in love with a bloody stupid man. I pressed my hands to my eyes. I would not… cry…
CRASH
Nice going, Tonks. Cover your eyes while your running, why don’t you.
~Remus~
A startled cry escaped from my lips as I crashed to the ground, the wind knocked out of me from behind. Heart beating fast, I fumbled for my wand. Were there still death eaters in the castle?
But no. It was a young woman, face down on the cold floor beside me. She raised her head shakily, breath choked with stifled sobs. Thin, pale brown hair curtained her small face, and there were shadows under her lifeless eyes, once so vibrant. My heart did not slow.
“Tonks, what the hell are you doing?”
She looked at me wildly.
“Oh! I - I’m sorry.” She paused. “Are you okay?” Her voice shook.
“Are you?” I looked at her anxiously.
“Fine…”
But she looked far from it. I wished I could comfort her, wrap my arms around that thin frame. I wanted to wipe those defiant tears away and stroke her beloved brown hair…
But I didn’t.
~Tonks~
It was Remus; of course it would be Remus. I stared hopelessly at his familiar, normally friendly face, and saw the traces of tears. I wished I could hold him and banish them to the end of the world. New tears formed and poured unhindered down my cheeks. Hurt, sorrow and worry lingered in the faint lines of his face, so often studied and traced with a mental finger that never once felt for real those unforgettable features. A small sigh escaped my lips and hung like vapour in the still air.
His mouth opened. “Er…”
Oh hell, was I still lying like an idiot on the floor? He stood up shakily and awkwardly offered me a hand, looking away. His touch made my heart clench.
~Remus~
Her hand lingered in mine; it felt cold and fragile. Guilt flooded through me, though I thought I had resolved that months ago. But it was still there. She would never forgive me… I felt a jolt of horror. Would she stay like this forever, her eyes lifeless, the joy and quirkiness gone from her appearance? I stared at her. But she was still so beautiful, my Nymphadora, and it was by this that I knew her defiant heart still beat, though faintly.
Then our eyes met.
The lights seemed to dim, and all I saw was her, pale face stained by salt tears. The world spun.
I heard an old man’s soft voice, calm as night.
What is your pain without a reason to endure it? What is grief without consolation?
What are you without her?
A little more love…
I still grasped her hand. A wolf howled in the distance, a cry filled with so much grief and agony. An answering howl sounded. She heard it too, and a small smile entered into her eyes for the first time in eternity.
“Yes…” I whispered, almost imperceptably. Something inside me seemed to open a crack.
~Tonks~
I saw it, as I looked in his eyes. A soft glow emerging from a door just unlocked. I saw a longing. Longing, care, ache, loss, and something else.
Somehow, we were closer. Something bubbled up, dancing, inside me. Hope, and an unbearable joy contrasting with sorrow. Love, reflected in those stunning eyes.
Closer still.
His hand reached up and shakily touched my cheek. It was calloused, but so warm and so gentle. He hesitated, then smiled.
Then our lips met in a soft kiss that resonated through me, like the first note of the first music ever made. His arms were around me, holding me, and I was alone no longer. I felt so safe in this warmth, I nearly cried again, but my smile was heartfelt when it had not been for so, so long.
Silvery light from the waxing moon poured in from the window and cast our blended shadows, together on the ancient stones of Albus Dumbledore’s school.
At last.