Asinus Protego (2/?)

[godricgal]

Title: Asinus Protego (2/?)
Author: godricgal
Ratings and Warnings: R for sexual content.
Word Count: 4518
Prompts: Chance, "I've been able to see them ever since my first year here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."
Summary: Just days after Dumbledore's funeral, when Remus and Tonks are working to rebuild their relationship in the wake of their reconciliation, an anonymous tip off, brushed off by the Ministry, piques Tonks' curiosity. Can she and Remus get to the bottom of the mystery before it's too late?
Author's Notes: This fic continues to be a completely new writing adventure for me, this chapter has been both a lot of fun and quite tricky to write, so I do hope you enjoy it. Many, many thanks to mrstater for being a cheerleader, sounding board and beta.

Chapter 1 |

Tonks stepped out the employee's exit of the Ministry, thankful that her work day had finally come to an end. Even so, she startled when she checked her watch to see that it was six o'clock. Was it really that late? She took a deep breath, in the hope that a little fresh air would perk her up a somewhat. The day had been more eventful and more productive than the previous, ergo, that much more stressful.

It had all started in the morning, with an incident involving a handful of Death Eaters and a Muggle aeroplane at Manchester Airport. Fortunately, the Death Eaters hadn't been the cream of Voldemort's crop, and appeared to be renegade; they'd fled the moment a team of Aurors had arrived at the scene, before too much damage had been done. The Department For Magical Cover-ups and the Obliviators had ended up with a higher workload than the Aurors, who'd left after a cursory examination of the scene; still, Tonks could have done without it.

The afternoon had been filled with small reports coming in from all over the country. After an elderly wizard reported an Inferius lurking around his property, she'd Apparated over to Harefield. Turned out it had just been a Muggle Goth, prowling around with the intention of breaking in to steal some cash. Tonks had reassured the man and then put in a call to the Muggle Police.

Somehow, she and Kingsley had managed to snatch a twenty minute break to plan how they were going to get their hands on the Onocentaur report. They'd met in a small Muggle café just down the road from the Ministry. It hadn't taken them long to agree that Kingsley would provide a distraction by making a loud fuss over the mishandling of another case while Tonks, morphed, searched the file room of the Magical Law Enforcement Office.

And it had been easy to find, stowed away in the 'Most Likely Insane Ramblings' folder of the 'Unlikely To Be Followed Up' filing cabinet. She'd wondered briefly if perhaps she might take up Kingsley's Magical Law Enforcement rant herself before long. She'd quickly copied the report, filed it in place and stowed the original safely in her robes.

All in all she was feeling a little tired, and very much looking forward to another end of day cuddle on the sofa with Remus, and, once they'd spent an hour or so on the report, settling down for a nice meal, and an evening alone with him.

Not that they were planning to cook; they'd agreed that morning that she'd pick up some cold meats, some cheese and a ready-made salad from the delicatessen on her way home from work. Which was where she was currently heading. She was just wondering whether it would be worth popping to the bakery to see if there were any French sticks going, and was quickening her pace toward that destination, when a female voice called from behind her. "Miss Tonks?"

Tonks spun on the spot, possibly a little too quickly; she fought to keep her balance as her wand hand automatically positioned itself near her holster.

Seeing that the person who'd addressed her was just a girl, she let out a slow breath as she relaxed -- but she couldn’t help staring. The girl's long, dirty blonde hair was pulled up in a flyaway ponytail; from her ears dangled a pair of acorns, and she wore a long, flowing dress in wild shades of turquoise and magenta. Her eyes were wide, as though fixed in a permanent expression of surprise.

Tonks recognised her instantly as one of Harry's friends who'd fought at the Ministry, in the battle last June. What was her name? Lena, Lana…?

…Luna, that was it.

Luna Lovegood. Daughter of the notoriously dotty editor of The Quibbler. Luna Lovegood, of whom Remus had spoken fondly, if not with a degree of amusement.

"Miss Lovegood?" Tonks said.

Luna's face remained impassive as she said, "You recognise me." It wasn't a question, and there was no emotion in her voice, but somehow, Tonks detected a measure of surprise from the girl.

"I made a point to find out the names of all the people to whom I should be indebted for helping their friends," Tonks answered, thinking that the girl was even stranger than Remus had suggested, after he'd brought pictures of those brave kids she hadn't known while she was under observation in St. Mungo's.

Luna looked momentarily confused, but then brightened, "Oh, you mean the night we went for a ride on Thestrals! Beautiful creatures, you know, even if they did used to serve the Arch Lord of Baghorn. He's dead, now, though…."

"What?" said Tonks, baffled, not least of all because Luna's defining memory of that night seemed to be their mode of transport...

"Anyway," Luna continued, "I wondered if I could have a word with you. I know you're friends with Harry -- and I saw you with Professor Lupin at Professor Dumbledore's funeral, so I know you can't be part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, and I thought I could trust you."

What the heck was the Rotfang Conspiracy?

Tonks blinked, and didn't have time to recover her wits before Luna added, "Why is your hair not pink today? I thought it looked rather nice on you."

"I…" Tonks said, struggling to catch her thoughts as she reached up to run her hand though hair that was spiked in her usual style, but today, black, then realised it was the one bit of the conversation so far she could hold on to. "I've been in the field today, and wearing pink hair in the field is rather like sticking a target on one's forehead." She took a deep breath. "But I don't think you wanted to talk about my hair?"

"My father," Luna replied. "He disappeared last week, and I just thought with all that's going on, I ought to mention it to someone."

Tonks felt her jaw drop and her eyes widen, when a man, hurrying along the street, bumped into her. Where was the girl's common sense?! she thought, as she struggled to maintain her balance. Here they were in the middle of a war that got bloodier with each passing day, with people disappearing right, left, centre, above and below, and it took Luna a week to bloody report her father's disappearance?

Tonks grabbed Luna's elbow and pulled her to a quiet corner of the pedestrianised street, outside a shop that had been closed down sometime around 1842 -- or so it seemed to Tonks, judging from the grime on the windows and the dust inside, who then wondered why she was thinking about closed down shops when there were far more pressing issues at hand.

"Don't you think you should have reported this sooner?" Tonks asked.

"No, not really," Luna replied airly, "I mean, he's been travelling in Latvia, looking for Twin-Nosed Compulbonitons -- fascinating creatures, you know; it's said they only…"

"Luna!" Tonks cut her off, finding her feet a little more in this bizarre conversation. "Your father?"

"Oh, yes," Luna said, "I wouldn't normally be worried, but he caught a Wrackspurt a couple of weeks ago, and really wasn't himself for a few days. Just wandered around in a daze."

"A Wrackspurt?" Tonks asked, wondering how noticeable a 'daze' must be for this girl to pick up on it.

Luna frowned at her, giving Tonks the impression that she thought an Auror really ought to know what she was talking about. "They're invisible and fly in through your ears and make your brain fuzzy."

"Right," said Tonks, not believing it for a minute, but making a note to check with Remus later, just in case. Though she wondered how annoying he'd be if it turned out to be a complete figment of Luna's imagination, which she ought to have sussed straight away. "So how long did he stay like that?"

"About a week," Luna replied, fiddling with one of the acorns absentmindedly. "Then I think he must have run into a Follybow or something because he came home one day with dreadful allergies; sneezing all over the place and saying ridiculous things under his sneezes."

A sense of foreboding darkened Tonks' thoughts, and the middle of the road, just down the street from the Ministry was not the place for this conversation. "Luna, are you staying alone at the moment?"

"Yes, it's just Dad and me, and he thinks I'm old enough to look after myself now and then," Luna replied.

"I'd feel better if you'd come and stay with Remus -- Professor Lupin -- and me tonight," Tonks said. "There's something I'd like to check, and it's not worth it at the moment to take unnecessary risks."

"Well, okay," Luna said, her face still impassive. "But it's really nothing to worry about."

"Humour me, Luna," said Tonks, placing her hand on Luna's shoulder to guide her towards the nearest Apparition point.

Half an hour later, after Apparating to Stoat's Hill Head so Luna could pack an overnight bag, and Tonks sent Remus a Patronus, explaining that she was bringing Luna to Grimmauld and briefly why, they were standing on the steps of number twelve, and Tonks was unlocking the door. There still seemed to be no reasonable explanation for Dumbledore having lifted the Fidelius Charm from Grimmauld a few days before his death, as Remus had learned from a note left in the Headmaster's office, but Tonks certainly found it convenient today.

She ushered Luna inside with a muttered warning to stay quiet and not to touch anything. Tonks closed the door firmly behind them, and then led Luna -- who seemed unfazed by the oppressive air of Grimmauld -- through the hall and down the steps to the kitchen, where Remus had said he'd be waiting.

Remus rose from his seat and strode towards them the second they entered the room. "Hello Luna, good to see you again," he said. Then his eyes travelled to Tonks', silently telling her he was pleased to have her home.

"You can kiss if you want," Luna piped up. "I won't look."

Fighting a wave of mild embarrassment, Tonks rolled her eyes at Remus, who, she noticed as he bent to kiss her cheek, bore the distinct mark of a man of confidence; perhaps nothing about their relationship could embarrass him after her outburst in the hospital wing.

"I've made up one of the spare rooms," Remus said. "Ginny and Hermione shared it when they stayed here. Tonks, could you take Luna up, please, and show her where the bathroom is, so she can freshen up for dinner?"

Dinner, Tonks thought. She'd completely forgotten to go to the deli.

"Remus…Dinner, I...I was on my way and then I ran into Luna and…"

"It's perfectly all right, Tonks," Remus said, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze. "We can have that tomorrow. For now we have some cheese and some bread, and I think there is a jar of pickle. I'll make some sandwiches. Take Luna up and I'll get started."

His eyes were so sincere that she couldn't help but smile back at him. It wasn't perfectly all right, though, she thought in a strop; they had planned a romantic dinner, and not only did they not have the tasty spread they'd anticipated, they also had company.

"It's all right," he said again, more softly this time, and she could see in his eyes that he wanted a few moments alone with her, so she nodded, and turned to lead Luna out the room.

A few minutes later, she found herself back down in the kitchen with Remus' arms tightly wrapped around her, his lips firmly against hers for a much more satisfying kiss then they'd managed in front of Luna. Tonks let herself become lost in him for a few moments, relishing the comfort of his touch after a long day.

All too quickly, Remus was giving her one final kiss and his forehead came to rest against hers. "So what's sent your alarm bells ringing?" he asked softly.

Tonks sighed and said heavily, "I think Luna's father may be under the Imperious Curse."

Remus' eyebrows arched in surprise. "What makes you think that?" he said, dropping his arms from around her and turning back to slice the cheese.

"Before I start, I haven't forgotten all my Care of Magical Creatures lessons and the existence of the Wrackspurt, have I?" she asked, picking up a knife and dragging it across a pat of butter.

"A Wrack what?" Remus said.

Tonks buttered a piece of bread Remus had sliced. "That's what I thought. According to Luna, they get in your brain and make it fuzzy."

Remus stopped, mid-cheese slice, and looked at her with raised eyebrows. "They make your brain fuzzy? I thought sex did that."

Tonks laughed. "Sex with you makes my brain fuzzy."

Their laughter died as they shared a few moments, heavy with a longing to be in their bed, sharing the comfort and pleasure they'd been without for so long and now couldn't get enough of.

"Come on, let's get this over with so we can get to bed and see how fuzzy-brained we can make each other," Remus said, breaking their gaze and turning back to finish chopping the cheese.

Tonks took a few seconds to compose herself, and then turned back to her task. As they put the sandwiches together, she told Remus what Luna had said about her father's strange behaviour.. When she'd finished her explanation, she asked, "Doesn't that sound like he might have been put under the curse, and then started to fight it?"

"It does, rather. Did she say anything about strange visitors or unexplained goings on?"

Tonks laughed. "No, she didn't, but five minutes with the girl was enough to convince me she'd find a perfectly logical -- in her mind anyway -- explanation for anything the rest of us would normally label 'unexplained'."

Tonks had just cut the sandwiches into fours when she heard Luna making her way down the stairs. She arranged them haphazardly on a plate, and plonked it in the middle of the table, while Remus lay out side plates, and set a Butterbeer at each place.

Luna entered the kitchen and Remus bade her take a seat opposite the two he and Tonks had long ago made a habit of occupying at dinner. "Did you find everything you need?" he asked as he pulled Tonks' chair out for her.

"Yes, thank you. Is this your house? It's a bit dark, isn't it?" Luna replied.

Tonks was a little taken aback at the girl's frankness, but Remus didn't seem fazed as he calmly answered, "We're just looking after it, and yes, it is a bit dark, but there isn't much time for painting and decorating at the moment."

He picked up the plate of sandwiches and offered it to Luna, who took two. Then he placed a couple on each of Tonks' and his own plates.

"So," Remus continued after they'd all taken a bite, and cracked their butterbeer bottles, "Tonks tells me you're father was acting a little strangely before he went missing."

"Yes," Luna said. "Miss Tonks told you about the Wrackspurt?"

Remus nodded. "She did. And after that your father started saying strange things?"

"That's right."

"What kind of ridiculous things was he saying?" Tonks asked, wondering how ridiculous something would have to be for this girl to label it as such.

"Oh, I couldn't make out half of it. All the sneezing, you see."

Tonks sighed. "Can you remember anything at all?"

"Not really. Oh, I do remember him saying something about The Forest of Dean, because the next day he came home all back to normal and announced that he was going to Latvia to watch for the Twin-Nosed Compulbonitons, which, actually, I thought a bit odd, too, because it's not the right season for them. They're normally only around in Spring."

Remus looked up sharply. "The Forest of Dean?"

Luna hummed. "I've never been there, have you? I read about it in a book once, it's supposed to be very pretty, but full of Feral Fairies at this time of year, which I did try and tell him, but he just sneezed at me."

Luna continued talking, elaborating on the dangers of entering a forest full of Feral Fairies, but Tonks found it rather hard to follow. She glanced at Remus to see his face wearing a mask of veiled concern. Obviously he knew something about The Forest of Dean that was of significance.

After a while, Remus pulled the conversation back. Luna had nothing much else to tell them; that, they established in an hour of conversation. Eventually, Tonks brought the discussion to a close and suggested they all get an early night, asking that Luna tell them if she remembered anything specific at all.

A few minutes after Luna had headed back up stairs, after hastily clearing the table and doing the washing up, Remus and Tonks headed up to their room, hand in hand.

"The Forest of Dean meant something to you," Tonks said, holding on to the end of the bed for balance as she pulled her trousers off. "What?"

"In Dumbledore's notes…" Remus said slowly, folding his jumper neatly and placing it on the dresser. "I found some notes about the Onocentaurs. Nothing much, just a few scribbles in a journal. The Forest was mentioned."

Tonks tensed at the first sign that there truly was something to the Onocentaur report. "This is connected?" she said slowly.

"It's possible," Remus replied. "We need to tell Luna, and find out if she can possibly remember any more."

"Do you really think that's wise?" Tonks said. "The girl is a loon. No telling what she might do or say."

"She's a little eccentric, yes," Remus replied, slipping into bed, "but she's not stupid. Remember what she did at the Ministry." His voice held a note of gentle reproof.

Tonks hung her head slightly, she of all people knew not to form judgement on the basis of first impression. Luna had been one of only three people left uninjured after the battle at the Ministry. "You're right, sorry."

Remus held out his hand to her, she took it and he gave hers a slight squeeze. "I don't think we should tell her about our case, just what we suspect about her father, see if she has any more information she can tell us and then we can decide what's to be done."

"Okay." Tonks let Remus pull her into bed. She sighed deeply as she slid to the pillow and then rolled on her side to face him.

"You look tired," he said, lifting his hand and tracing the side of her face with his fingers, making her shiver.

"So do you," Tonks replied, shifting a little closer and placing her hand on the warm skin of his hip.

He rolled her onto her back and leaned over her as she wrapped an arm around him. "If you think I'm too tired to make love to you," he said, "I'm not."

Though Tonks felt her body physically react to his words and to him being pressed against her so intimately, she couldn't resist the urge to tease him. "What if I am?"

Remus raised his eyebrows with what she thought was a combination of amusement and scepticism. "Then of course," he said, "I will be a perfect gentleman. But are you?"

"No," Tonks admitted with a laugh. "But I wouldn't mind just cuddling up for a bit first. Unless there's a risk you might fall asleep and miss out on later activities."

"I think there's little chance of that, I want to know how fuzzy-brained I can make you." Remus made to roll away, presumably so Tonks could nestle into her usual niche on his shoulder, but she, relishing the weight of his body against hers, tightened her arm around him.

"Stay like this," she whispered.

His eyes burned on hers for a few seconds before he buried his face in the crook of her neck. His lips, though not moving, touched her skin. After a few moments, no sound met her ears but their slow, steady breaths. Her left hand lay across her chest, her fingers just shy of resting against Remus' cheek.

"Do you ever wish we could get a house in the middle of no where," she asked softly, after a while, "or even just a room with a bed in it? We could Accio food from the nearest village. The Death Eaters would never find us."

Remus lifted his head and she felt his gaze upon her, though she kept her head turned to the side.

"Do you want to get married?" he asked.

She turned slowly, and met his gaze -- intent and earnest.

She thought she ought to feel shocked, maybe squeal a bit, shout from the rooftops -- fuzzy-brained even...But she only felt a deep and profound sense of calm, of what was right.

She searched his eyes, his face, for a long time, and then nodded.

Remus' expression relaxed into a wide smile, which she felt mirrored on her own face.

While she hadn't, for a second, doubted his feelings for her since they'd been back together -- nor had she really during the year they'd been apart -- his question touched a deeper part of her.

Could he possibly know how much the utterance of faith that lay in the proposal of marriage meant to her? Before their break-up, when everything had been perfect, she'd only seen marriage as the next natural step in their relationship. Now though, she felt a longing to bind herself to him, to belong to him…

As she would want to do to no other.

Wordlessly, Remus sat up a bit, propping himself up on an elbow. He raised his free hand, open palmed, and she just glimpsed something small and shiny flying through the air before his fist closed around it. He picked up her hand by the end of her fingers and slipped a small, silver ring on her forth. It held a single diamond in an intricate setting; clearly, it was old.

Old and beautiful, she thought, in delight, as she watched the jewel sparkle in the light from the bedside candle.

"It was my mother's," he said simply, closing his hand around hers and then he bent to press a single lingering kiss to her lips.

"I love you," he whispered when he pulled back. "So much."

"And I love you."

They were engaged, and it was all so simple. And that was how love should be, she thought: just one man expressing his devotion to one woman, and a mutual desire to spend their lives together and make of it what they could.

And she was so glad, so relieved, so undeniably happy that she'd been given the chance to experience this. She'd never really considered herself a romantic; but perhaps she'd just always thought that romance was about big over blown gestures, expensive gifts and passionate declarations and she didn't want that.

But it wasn't.

This was real romance: sharing a quiet moment of truth that was so moving because it meant so much to her, and knowing it meant so much to the person she loved more than anything in the world.

She tightened her arm around him, drawing their joined hands to her heart.

Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his mouth, to the supple pink lips she wanted pressed against hers; she felt beneath her hand the raw heat of his body she wanted moving against her.

And then he was kissing her again, touching her as she wanted to be touched by no other.

Outside, the Dementors soared, weaving through the night, spreading darkness and misery, and in the house, the ghosts of a sorry past lingered in hallways and dampened the air. But in this room, at this moment and wound tightly in Remus arms, kissing him for all she was worth and reaching out to touch a deeper part of him, all Tonks felt was warmth, and love…

And hope.

Grateful beyond measure that they had the opportunity to make right what circumstance had put to wrong, Tonks felt herself drift off on waves of pleasure as Remus' mouth found her breasts and his hands, underneath her, pulled her to him.

Consumed with the desperate need to return what he gave, she let her hands touch him, felt his body react beneath them. Sounds of pleasure rumbled between them; his name hissed from her lips as hers tumbled from his, over and over.

They moved together, Tonks feeling rather than thinking how all her love for Remus could be expressed like this...how utterly adored he made her feel in the way he moved against her...revelling in the way that, in Remus' arms, with their bodies joined and locked in total intimacy, the world, and her place in it made sense…

They were to be married.

That single thought coupled with a sharp rise in glorious tension the length of her body, and she could feel it in Remus, too. She whispered it to him and they broke together, tumbling into rapture, bodies arching against the other, snatching breaths against lips and around cries of bliss.

They lay against each other for some time, pressing kisses to damp faces, whispering of their love and amazement of what they could feel together -- definitely fuzzy-brained.

Once they'd both caught their breath, Remus whispered sleepily, "What kind of wedding do you want?"

"A small one," Tonks replied. She idly brushed his fringe away from his eyes. "Just you and me."

She watched as Remus adopted an expression of mild surprise through heavily lidded eyes. "You don't want some of our friends there?"

"We can have a small party or something later on, but I'd rather it was just about us. I don't want to think about anyone but you. Is that okay?"

"Sounds like the perfect wedding to me," Remus said, and then bent to press a kiss to her forehead. "I just thought you'd want something a bit bigger."

"I just want to be your wife. Nothing else matters."

"Nothing else matters," he murmured, as he bent to kiss her.

And it didn't. It really and truly didn't.

They would get married. Together they would stand strong and fight in for their right to live their lives as they wanted, and for others -- the Lovegoods -- to have the same freedom: free from prejudice, at liberty, when the time came, to raise a family in safety.

Remus shifted to curl his body around hers. Her eyes were already heavy when he pressed a warm kiss to the bare skin of her shoulder, and a whispered promise of a happy future carried her off to sleep.