Fic: Love at Christmas (Harry Potter - Remus/Tonks)
Title: Love at Christmas
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairing: Remus/Tonks
Rating & Warnings: PG
Format & Word Count: Fic / 1417 words
Summary: It’s Christmas time in OOTP. The attack on Arthur gives Remus and Tonks the push to finally admit the depth of their feelings.
Author’s Note: Written as a gift for gilpin25 for the It’s A Gift Challenge at pulped_fictions. Some of the events in this fic were referred to in my fic Comfort and Joy, I hope you enjoy this expansion of them. Pure R/T fluff for Christmas :)
Tonks had just arrived home after doing some late night Christmas shopping and was relaxing on the sofa with a cuppa whilst idly thinking about Remus. Their relationship was going so well that sometimes she really had to pinch herself. She’d been half convinced that she’d have made some stupid mistake by now, accidentally called him names or hit him when trying to be affectionate or that he would have just gone off her. At least that’s the way most of her, few, previous relationships had gone. But it sometimes appeared that she could do no wrong in Remus’ eyes, just as he could do no wrong in hers. She was just thinking about how happy she felt when his head appeared in her fire.
“Hello you,” she said with a smile.
“Oh good Tonks, you’re there. It’s an emergency. Arthur’s been attacked on duty. You need to get to the Ministry asap and see what you can do. Moody will meet you there,” he said briskly.
He had hardly finished speaking when she’d pulled her discarded boots and jacket back on and was headed to the door. Hearing his final “be careful” she glanced back over her shoulder and blew him a kiss before leaving.
She arrived at the Ministry and tried not to race to the scene. Aurors were allowed on the premises at all hours but it wouldn’t do to arouse suspicion. She finally reached Arthur to find Mad-Eye giving him some first aid.
“Wotcher,” she whispered. “How is he? What happened? What can I do?”
“One question at a time Tonks,” growled Mad-Eye. “The snake bit him. We don’t know how it got in yet but young Harry saw everything. It doesn’t look good. We need to get him to St Mungos and think up an excuse.”
“Ok. Excuse, I can do. Hmm…snake…” A thousand thoughts crowded Tonks’ mind on the snake, how it had got in the Ministry without anyone seeing, and what Mad-Eye meant by ‘Harry saw everything’. She watched Mad-Eye carefully leviate Arthur as she remained on alert. “We could say it was a Muggle snake that had been bewitched and Arthur was dealing with it when it bit him. That you were helping and disposed of the snake.”
Mad-Eye nodded curtly, Tonks knew that meant he approved of her excuse and she hurried after him.
After depositing Arthur at St Mungos and contacting Molly ‘officially’, Tonks was exhausted. It had been hard to see Arthur like that. She’d always liked him, firstly as Bill and Charlie’s dad and then as a respected colleague both in the Ministry and the Order. She’d also had a traitorous thought that she was glad it hadn’t been Remus on duty. If he had been injured or worse she didn’t know how she could have born it. She felt a pang in her heart at the very thought. He had come to mean so much to her in the last few weeks.
She arrived at Grimmauld Place to find Remus pacing the drawing room floor. He turned as she entered and crossed the floor in one stride to engulf her in a tight hug. She felt tears in her eyes at his show of concern for her and the proof that that thing she was feeling might just be reciprocated. He released her and she sank gratefully into the sofa. With his arm still around her shoulders, she snuggled into him.
“How is he? Do we know what happened?” he asked.
She sighed. “It looked pretty bad. He was still unconscious when I left but the Healer seemed positive. I don’t know, I guess time will tell. And no, we don’t know anything more than Voldemort’s snake got into the Ministry and bit Arthur. We’ll have to wait until Arthur awakes. And what’s this about Harry anyway? Mad-Eye mentioned something but I didn’t quite get it.”
“It seems Harry saw the attack. He dreamt he was the snake. It was lucky really because he could raise the alarm. We don’t quite understand how though,” replied Remus. “Sirius thinks there’s something Dumbledore’s not telling us. That he seems to have been waiting for something like this to happen.”
Tonks could feel her eyes shutting as Remus talked.
“Tonks,” Remus whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry, prattling on like this, you must be tired. Do you want to stay here?”
She nodded and willingly complied as Remus pulled her up from the sofa and lead her upstairs to his room.
The next few days were busier than ever with Tonks having to fit in Auror and Order duties, including escorting Molly and the children to visit Arthur, as well as completing her Christmas preparations. So it was Christmas Night before she was able to spend any time with Remus.
She arrived at Grimmauld Place after Christmas Lunch with her parents to find a rather jolly party taking place. Everyone appeared to be relieving the pressure of the last few days by getting into the Christmas spirit, Sirius included. She laughed to find him dashing around the house with a Santa hat perched on his head and mistletoe in one hand, dancing with everyone. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him in such a good mood. Her eyes sought out Remus across the crowded room; he was stood talking to Kingsley by the fireplace. As if aware of her gaze he turned, smiled and raised his glass to her before returning to his conversation with Kingsley. They’d been keeping their relationship quiet, so overt displays of affection were out of the question, but she thrilled at the gesture and the appearance of the smile he kept just for her.
She was just edging round the room, planning to surreptitiously make her way over to Remus, when she found herself swept into a dance with Sirius. A rather make-shift dance floor had been established in the centre of the room and a number of Order members and the Weasley Twins were dancing. Dancing had never been Tonks’ forte and she laughed as she stumbled over Sirius’ feet. He’d no sooner abandoned her for Hermione, when she found herself accosted by the Weasley Twins whose brand of manic disco dancing was much more her style. She looked over at Remus to find him dancing with Ginny, grinning she ambled over and tapped Ginny on the shoulder.
“Don’t mind if I cut in, do you?” she asked. Ginny’s eyes widened but she shook her head and was immediately swept away by Sirius.
Tonks and Remus stood just looking at each other for a moment, their eyes locked.
“Shall we dance?” he asked as he gestured towards the other dancers.
“Sure.” She grinned. “But watch out for my two left feet.”
But as she moved in his arms she found herself feeling remarkably graceful. There was a special kind of Christmas magic in the air as they couldn’t drag their eyes away from each other. The music slowed and they remained on the dance floor, dancing so close and so in time with one another. Tonks thought that if the rest of the Order had remained unaware of their relationship, they certainly wouldn’t be now, but she really didn’t care. She was happy and in love and suddenly she wanted the world to know. But there was someone she needed to tell first.
Soon the rest of the Order had drifted off to bed or to their own homes and there was only herself and Remus left, swaying together in front of the dying fire. She felt as though she never wanted to leave his arms and was a little overwhelmed by her love for him. Pulling back slightly to look up at him, she searched his eyes and, feeling confident that the evident emotion in them was for her, she took a deep breath.
“I love you Remus,” she said.
There was a tense pause before Remus smiled.
“I love you Nymphadora.”
Unable to stop herself, she replied, “Don’t call me Nymphadora.” She placed her hands over her mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry! Way to ruin a moment Tonks!” She rolled her eyes at herself.
Remus laughed and tightened his hold on her.
“Then what can I call you? Tonks feels too impersonal a name to for me to call the woman I love.”
Tonks beamed at his words and threaded her arms around his neck.
“Dora,” she replied before she kissed him. “You can call me Dora.”
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairing: Remus/Tonks
Rating & Warnings: PG
Format & Word Count: Fic / 1417 words
Summary: It’s Christmas time in OOTP. The attack on Arthur gives Remus and Tonks the push to finally admit the depth of their feelings.
Author’s Note: Written as a gift for gilpin25 for the It’s A Gift Challenge at pulped_fictions. Some of the events in this fic were referred to in my fic Comfort and Joy, I hope you enjoy this expansion of them. Pure R/T fluff for Christmas :)
Tonks had just arrived home after doing some late night Christmas shopping and was relaxing on the sofa with a cuppa whilst idly thinking about Remus. Their relationship was going so well that sometimes she really had to pinch herself. She’d been half convinced that she’d have made some stupid mistake by now, accidentally called him names or hit him when trying to be affectionate or that he would have just gone off her. At least that’s the way most of her, few, previous relationships had gone. But it sometimes appeared that she could do no wrong in Remus’ eyes, just as he could do no wrong in hers. She was just thinking about how happy she felt when his head appeared in her fire.
“Hello you,” she said with a smile.
“Oh good Tonks, you’re there. It’s an emergency. Arthur’s been attacked on duty. You need to get to the Ministry asap and see what you can do. Moody will meet you there,” he said briskly.
He had hardly finished speaking when she’d pulled her discarded boots and jacket back on and was headed to the door. Hearing his final “be careful” she glanced back over her shoulder and blew him a kiss before leaving.
She arrived at the Ministry and tried not to race to the scene. Aurors were allowed on the premises at all hours but it wouldn’t do to arouse suspicion. She finally reached Arthur to find Mad-Eye giving him some first aid.
“Wotcher,” she whispered. “How is he? What happened? What can I do?”
“One question at a time Tonks,” growled Mad-Eye. “The snake bit him. We don’t know how it got in yet but young Harry saw everything. It doesn’t look good. We need to get him to St Mungos and think up an excuse.”
“Ok. Excuse, I can do. Hmm…snake…” A thousand thoughts crowded Tonks’ mind on the snake, how it had got in the Ministry without anyone seeing, and what Mad-Eye meant by ‘Harry saw everything’. She watched Mad-Eye carefully leviate Arthur as she remained on alert. “We could say it was a Muggle snake that had been bewitched and Arthur was dealing with it when it bit him. That you were helping and disposed of the snake.”
Mad-Eye nodded curtly, Tonks knew that meant he approved of her excuse and she hurried after him.
After depositing Arthur at St Mungos and contacting Molly ‘officially’, Tonks was exhausted. It had been hard to see Arthur like that. She’d always liked him, firstly as Bill and Charlie’s dad and then as a respected colleague both in the Ministry and the Order. She’d also had a traitorous thought that she was glad it hadn’t been Remus on duty. If he had been injured or worse she didn’t know how she could have born it. She felt a pang in her heart at the very thought. He had come to mean so much to her in the last few weeks.
She arrived at Grimmauld Place to find Remus pacing the drawing room floor. He turned as she entered and crossed the floor in one stride to engulf her in a tight hug. She felt tears in her eyes at his show of concern for her and the proof that that thing she was feeling might just be reciprocated. He released her and she sank gratefully into the sofa. With his arm still around her shoulders, she snuggled into him.
“How is he? Do we know what happened?” he asked.
She sighed. “It looked pretty bad. He was still unconscious when I left but the Healer seemed positive. I don’t know, I guess time will tell. And no, we don’t know anything more than Voldemort’s snake got into the Ministry and bit Arthur. We’ll have to wait until Arthur awakes. And what’s this about Harry anyway? Mad-Eye mentioned something but I didn’t quite get it.”
“It seems Harry saw the attack. He dreamt he was the snake. It was lucky really because he could raise the alarm. We don’t quite understand how though,” replied Remus. “Sirius thinks there’s something Dumbledore’s not telling us. That he seems to have been waiting for something like this to happen.”
Tonks could feel her eyes shutting as Remus talked.
“Tonks,” Remus whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry, prattling on like this, you must be tired. Do you want to stay here?”
She nodded and willingly complied as Remus pulled her up from the sofa and lead her upstairs to his room.
The next few days were busier than ever with Tonks having to fit in Auror and Order duties, including escorting Molly and the children to visit Arthur, as well as completing her Christmas preparations. So it was Christmas Night before she was able to spend any time with Remus.
She arrived at Grimmauld Place after Christmas Lunch with her parents to find a rather jolly party taking place. Everyone appeared to be relieving the pressure of the last few days by getting into the Christmas spirit, Sirius included. She laughed to find him dashing around the house with a Santa hat perched on his head and mistletoe in one hand, dancing with everyone. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him in such a good mood. Her eyes sought out Remus across the crowded room; he was stood talking to Kingsley by the fireplace. As if aware of her gaze he turned, smiled and raised his glass to her before returning to his conversation with Kingsley. They’d been keeping their relationship quiet, so overt displays of affection were out of the question, but she thrilled at the gesture and the appearance of the smile he kept just for her.
She was just edging round the room, planning to surreptitiously make her way over to Remus, when she found herself swept into a dance with Sirius. A rather make-shift dance floor had been established in the centre of the room and a number of Order members and the Weasley Twins were dancing. Dancing had never been Tonks’ forte and she laughed as she stumbled over Sirius’ feet. He’d no sooner abandoned her for Hermione, when she found herself accosted by the Weasley Twins whose brand of manic disco dancing was much more her style. She looked over at Remus to find him dancing with Ginny, grinning she ambled over and tapped Ginny on the shoulder.
“Don’t mind if I cut in, do you?” she asked. Ginny’s eyes widened but she shook her head and was immediately swept away by Sirius.
Tonks and Remus stood just looking at each other for a moment, their eyes locked.
“Shall we dance?” he asked as he gestured towards the other dancers.
“Sure.” She grinned. “But watch out for my two left feet.”
But as she moved in his arms she found herself feeling remarkably graceful. There was a special kind of Christmas magic in the air as they couldn’t drag their eyes away from each other. The music slowed and they remained on the dance floor, dancing so close and so in time with one another. Tonks thought that if the rest of the Order had remained unaware of their relationship, they certainly wouldn’t be now, but she really didn’t care. She was happy and in love and suddenly she wanted the world to know. But there was someone she needed to tell first.
Soon the rest of the Order had drifted off to bed or to their own homes and there was only herself and Remus left, swaying together in front of the dying fire. She felt as though she never wanted to leave his arms and was a little overwhelmed by her love for him. Pulling back slightly to look up at him, she searched his eyes and, feeling confident that the evident emotion in them was for her, she took a deep breath.
“I love you Remus,” she said.
There was a tense pause before Remus smiled.
“I love you Nymphadora.”
Unable to stop herself, she replied, “Don’t call me Nymphadora.” She placed her hands over her mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry! Way to ruin a moment Tonks!” She rolled her eyes at herself.
Remus laughed and tightened his hold on her.
“Then what can I call you? Tonks feels too impersonal a name to for me to call the woman I love.”
Tonks beamed at his words and threaded her arms around his neck.
“Dora,” she replied before she kissed him. “You can call me Dora.”