FIC: Don't Look Back (4/5)
Title: Don’t Look Back (4/5)
Author:
mrstater
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Featured Characters: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (and other canon pairings); Fleur Delacour; Hermione Granger; Harry Potter; Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ginny, Molly, and Ron Weasley
Summary: When Harry's coming-of-age party and Bill and Fleur's wedding bring Remus and Tonks for a few days' stay at the Burrow, they expect reprieve from the encroaching darkness. But war doesn't stop for celebration, and when trouble with Molly forces Remus to revisit the past, it threatens his resolve to go through with plans for the future.
Author's Note: Originally written for the October 2006 Half Moon Rising Fic Jumble at
metamorfic_moon , this story follows the Transfigured Hearts series and is set during the summer following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Written before Deathly Hallows, so not canon-compliant after HBP.) Many thanks to
godricgal , the best beta reader in the universe.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Part Four
If anyone knew anything about not waiting, it was Molly. When she called everyone playing and watching the pick-up Quidditch in at dusk for Harry's birthday cake, she stopped Remus on the porch.
"You told Harry what?" Molly cried. "Remus Lupin, how could you? You were their teacher, for Merlin's sake!"
Her face matched her hair, and her normally warm brown eyes flared, flecks of gold glinting in the irises. Arms akimbo, Molly's stance left no doubt that she had effectively reared seven children. Remus responded accordingly, backing away from her, feet slipping off the porch step.
Yet Tonks' firm hand on his arm balanced him, and he stood his ground.
"Precisely," Remus said. "Their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. And unfortunately, since my tenure, the classroom has expanded beyond the walls of Hogwarts."
Molly shuddered, and her posture slumped. "What are they going to do?" Her voice remained shrill, but had lost the accusatory edge. "None of them will tell me anything more than helping Harry in his work for Dumbledore. I assume that means Order work?"
"I don't know, Molly." Remus sighed heavily, and reached out to touch her shoulder. "I am certain that whatever Dumbledore has asked is of great importance to the Order."
"Whatever? You meant you don't know?" She was looking at Remus like he imagined a mother Hungarian Horntail might look at an intruder in her nest, and his hand fell to his side. "Ask them!"
Arthur's tall, thin frame appeared in the doorway behind his wife. "It's Harry's birthday, Molly," he said quietly, and Remus noted, with embarrassment, that Fleur and Bill were standing close by, along with the twins, rapt on the scene. "The family are all here. Let's not spoil it."
Molly shrugged away as Arthur's hands settled on her shoulders. "Nothing will be spoilt once we put a stop to this nonsense. Ask them, Remus!"
Tonks' grip tightened, solidifying Remus' confidence more than any words of support could do.
"It is not my place," he said steadily.
"Not your place to protect them? You're the leader of the Order!"
Remus inhaled sharply, yet felt as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Tonks' fingers seemed likely to leave permanent indentions on his arm. Leader of the Order? It was news to him. And dizzying. And...Where was Harry? Remus sincerely hoped the young man wasn't hearing Molly assert the limitations of his youth.
"Molly," "Mum," Arthur and Bill rebuked at once, as Fleur added, "'arry is ze Triwizard Champion and ze Chosen One. Of course 'e ees capable of Order work!"
Face getting redder, revealing no sign that she'd heard them, Molly glared at Remus through anguished eyes. "You of all people ought to understand why this upsets me." Her hands balled into fists at her side, and she was shaking. "You promised me the Order would look out for my children."
"They're not--" Remus began at the same time as Arthur, in a strange, choked voice said, "That's not fair, Molly." The latter caught her shoulders and started to turn her inside. "Please--"
The screech of door hinges beyond Arthur in the house, followed by a thump against the wall, cut him off. As the Weasleys turned, Remus peered around just as Harry stumbled backward out of the broom cupboard.
"I'm sorry, Ginny," he panted. "We can't. I don't know what got into me…" He pushed his askew glasses higher up on his nose as he glanced round frantically, mortified. He reached into the cupboard and pulled out his Firebolt. "I'm going for a fly."
He pushed through the crowd, and the instant his feet hit the yard, he mounted and took off in a swift motion. Remus glanced back inside as Ginny, face obscured by her dishevelled hair, darted out of the broom cupboard, sobbing quietly.
The twins, oddly pale and wearing the expression which Remus recognised immediately as the one that accompanied a prank gone very, very wrong, went after her, and there was the thunder of feet on the stairs.
"Why are you standing there looking stupid with your mouth open?" Hermione's brusque voice drifted outside. "Go after Harry!"
The next instant Ron, with a grim expression that might have been either anger or anxiety, tore outside, mounted his broom a bit less gracefully than Harry had, and flew after his mate.
For a moment, the Burrow was as still and silent as it had ever been; no one seemed even to breathe.
Then, in a flash of red, Molly whirled back to face Remus. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy as tears streaked down her cheeks, glittering in the lamplight. She looked exactly as she had that night after he'd dispelled her Boggart, and she'd fallen, weeping, onto his shoulder.
This time, Molly met his gaze and said tremulously, "Don't you dare tell me they're not children!"
She staggered around Tonks, muttering about needing more eggs so she could get started baking the wedding cake. Arthur followed, casting Remus an apologetic, but troubled glance.
Remus' heart plummeted into his stomach. Arthur might not agree with Molly, but of course he was equally distressed about his youngest children -- and their friends whom he, too, regarded as his own -- being thrust into this war.
"Don't mind her, Remus," said Bill as Tonks nudged Remus inside and shut the door behind them. "She's going through a lot of changes just now."
"Per'aps eet ees ze change," Fleur said.
She was so serious that Remus didn't dare laugh, though he wanted to, very much -- which was a tremendous relief; he wished he could do as Tonks was, and hide his face in her shoulder to rein in the laughter.
"Well," said Bill, amusement in his voice as well as he wrapped an arm around his fiancée's waist, "how about that birthday cake we were all coming inside to eat?"
Fleur looked at him, scandalised. "We cannot eat 'arry's birthday cake without him! And anyway," she went on, wrinkling her perfect nose in a look of utter disgust, "you need a shower, and I want to go 'ave an 'eart to 'eart chat weeth Ginny. Zose twins cannot be saying ze things a woman needs to 'ear."
Remus gave in to a chuckle at the image of Fleur towing her hungry husband-to-be up the stairs. He was startled into silence again when Tonks suddenly caught him in a fierce hug, pressing her cheek to his chest. It caught him off balance, and his lower back connected with the broom cupboard doorknob. Shifting off of it, he returned Tonks' embrace.
"I'm sorry Molly had a go at you like that," Tonks said. "You stood your ground brilliantly, and you're right, so don't look back and think you could've done anything differently. She won't stay upset at you for long. It's not really you she's mad at."
Her hair tickled Remus' cheek as he nodded. He raised his head as the earlier question returned to his mind. "Do people really see me as a leader?"
Tonks pulled back slightly and lifted her face. "Molly just said she does. And I certainly do."
Somehow, stated calmly, and sincerely like that, it didn't seem as astonishing as when Molly had shouted it accusatorially. He had been leading meetings lately, and even the night Dumbledore died, people had turned to him with questions about the closing of school, about Bill. Perhaps it had been for a reason other than his first-hand knowledge about werewolves.
"But of all people to upset..." said Remus with a sigh, drawing Tonks close again. "Molly…"
"Even the best leaders can't always do what everyone wants," Tonks interrupted gently; then, surprisingly, her eyes misted, and her voice became high and pinched as she said, "Wish I'd realised that last year. Dumbledore hated sending you underground, and I only made it harder for him to live with…"
Heart aching, Remus pulled her tight against him again, holding her head, kissing her hair. "What have you been telling everyone?"
She sniffled and croaked, "Don't look back."
"That goes for you, too, you know."
She looked up at him again, and her eyes were dry, only a little red-rimmed. "I really love you a lot."
They kissed, and immediately the touch of her lips set Remus' pulse racing and blood surging. He felt the cold metal of the doorknob against his palm as his fingers curled instinctively around it and turned it.
"This is brave," Tonks murmured against his mouth as his back met with a protrusion in the wall, which somehow his muddled brain registered to be the narrow edge of a shelf, and sent something pitching to the floor, "snogging in Molly's broom cupboard."
This was news to Remus. Opening an eye, he found that, sure enough, they were ensconced in the dark, confined space. He hadn't meant to bring Tonks in here at all. Instinctively pulling a girl into a broom cupboard to snog was not within Remus' realm of experience, and it had been a compulsion, not bravery, that drove him to it. He felt sure Tonks was right; it took a great deal of courage, indeed, do so in Molly's house, when she was already upset with him.
He was too intoxicated by Tonks' closeness, by her fingers curling into his hair, by her lips melting into his again, to care. And he was a Gryffindor, wasn't he? Surely lion-hearted courage applied to broom cupboard snogs, as well. James and Sirius had always asserted so. Remus deepened the kiss, and produced the most encouraging sounds from her...
After a moment, however, he found himself caring very much about a question that leapt to the front of his mind, demanding precedence over sensation. Tonks whimpered when he pulled his mouth from hers, and the ragged sounds of their breath made it difficult to resist kissing her again. Resting his forehead against hers, he murmured, "Can I do what you want?"
He felt her brow arch. "What?"
Remus took out his wand. "Lumos." He set the wand on the shelf he was pressed against, then studied her face in the bluish light. "What do you want, Tonks?"
Tonks' eyebrows remained knit, then understanding lit her features as she found her way back to their previous conversation about Molly.
"Just you."
She leant up to kiss him again, and Remus caught her eyes rounding and lips falling open in a look of surprise -- an astonishment he shared -- as he dropped down on one knee.
His hand fumbled in his trouser pocket, fingers clumsily attempting to grasp the delicate ring he'd carried about for the past two days.
As he drew it out, Tonks gasped. Remus peered up through his fringe to see both her hands fly up to cover her mouth. He smiled because he'd hoped to catch her off-guard, and she was adorable; he frowned because he'd caught her off-guard, and she might not be ready.
But there was no going back now. He wanted to assure her of his faith, and this was the only way he knew how.
He swallowed hard, then heard a hoarse voice that sounded too far away to be his own ask, "Will you marry me, Nymphadora?"
Her hand shot out to clutch his. Her eyes shimmered, and Remus' body had never been tenser with anticipation, not even before transformation, than it was now, as he awaited the answer that would alter everything forever.
Though Tonks was bathed in the bluish light from his wand, Remus knew the ethereal radiance on her face came from an entirely inner source. She was beautiful.
Dear Merlin: she was about to tell him that she was his. Forever.
Her full lips parted, but the only sound that emitted from them was her voice catching. She smiled softly, shyly, the tip of her tongue just darting out to moisten her lips. Remus squeezed her hand.
Tonks opened her mouth again, and this time managed a whisper: "Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus!"
A laugh burst from Remus' chest, only to lodge in his throat as the cupboard door suddenly swung open, light flooding in.
There, with a basket of eggs and holding an apron she must have been about to put away, stood Molly.
"Why is everyone so keen on sneaking into this broom--?"
Her eyes fell on the ring, then her gaze pulled back to take in their pose; the apron and basket fell to the floor with the crunch of dozens of shells. Remus felt egg yolk seeping stickily through the knee of his trousers.
"Is that…?" Molly stammered. "Remus, are you…? Oh my…"
She stepped back, and Remus released his breath and the chuckle. He covered Tonks' hand with his free one. "Is that a yes?"
Tonks blushed. "Of course it's a yes."
Their shaky laughter mingled as Remus slid the ring -- a slender gold band with a diamond no larger than a fairy's teardrop, with an even more minute pink and blue sapphire set on either side -- onto Tonks' trembling finger. He vaguely registered Molly's indistinct squeals and the stairs thundering overhead, and then Tonks launched herself into his arms, knocking him backward on his posterior on the egg-covered floor of the broom cupboard.
"Yes, yes, yes!" She followed each word with a kiss. "A million times, yes!"
Though Remus hadn't expected an answer but yes, he hadn't been prepared for the way actually hearing the word -- a million times -- rang through him like the most resonant of joyous bells.
But before he could really process just how it made him feel, Molly's voice cried over the cheers and clapping from what sounded like everyone crowding into the small space between the front door and the cupboard,
"I'm so happy for you!" Wiping her eyes as she leant into the nook to hug Tonks, she added, "You deserve happiness, dear."
In the pause, she gave Remus a look that was sincere and apologetic and sought forgiveness. "Both of you."
Before he could thank her, the twins bounded forward, caught their mother's arms, and dragged her away from the cupboard, as one of them kicked a foot back to shut the door in Remus' and Tonks' faces. "Let 'em celebrate!"
"I told you Molly wouldn't stay angry at you," said Tonks, sliding into Remus' lap, legs wrapping around his back as she kissed him lingeringly.
"Mmm, that was my strategy. I thought, 'By Jove! I know how to work my way back into Molly's good graces. I'll propose to Tonks."
Tonks laughed, and removed a hand from his shoulder to admire her ring. "You just happened to have an engagement ring in your pocket." Her eyes drifted down and scrutinised him with the look she must wear in interrogation settings. "How long have you been planning to propose to me?"
"I was going to wait. I thought the wedding would be a romantic setting."
Another laugh from Tonks made her wriggle on his lap, causing more eggshells to crunch beneath them. "But naturally you realised that of course a broom cupboard was more romantic."
"Naturally."
Remus briefly toyed with admitting to her that he'd been unsure she was ready, but that was looking back; doubt had come from letting his gaze wander from the future. He would not spoil this moment.
Instead, he released Tonks with one arm to stretch upward for his wand. "Bit crowded in here, don't you think?"
"And eggy."
Leaning in to kiss her again, Remus Apparated them to their bedroom.
A/N: One more chapter to go, folks, and in it I promise to reveal the answer to the mystery: "Just what is the deal with this broom cupboard?"
Thanks ever so much for all your lovely feedback thus far. Your encouragement means a lot to me. This time, reviewers get to pick their ideal Remus proposal...
Read Part Five
Author:
mrstater
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Featured Characters: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks (and other canon pairings); Fleur Delacour; Hermione Granger; Harry Potter; Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ginny, Molly, and Ron Weasley
Summary: When Harry's coming-of-age party and Bill and Fleur's wedding bring Remus and Tonks for a few days' stay at the Burrow, they expect reprieve from the encroaching darkness. But war doesn't stop for celebration, and when trouble with Molly forces Remus to revisit the past, it threatens his resolve to go through with plans for the future.
Author's Note: Originally written for the October 2006 Half Moon Rising Fic Jumble at
metamorfic_moon , this story follows the Transfigured Hearts series and is set during the summer following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Written before Deathly Hallows, so not canon-compliant after HBP.) Many thanks to
godricgal , the best beta reader in the universe.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Part Four
If anyone knew anything about not waiting, it was Molly. When she called everyone playing and watching the pick-up Quidditch in at dusk for Harry's birthday cake, she stopped Remus on the porch.
"You told Harry what?" Molly cried. "Remus Lupin, how could you? You were their teacher, for Merlin's sake!"
Her face matched her hair, and her normally warm brown eyes flared, flecks of gold glinting in the irises. Arms akimbo, Molly's stance left no doubt that she had effectively reared seven children. Remus responded accordingly, backing away from her, feet slipping off the porch step.
Yet Tonks' firm hand on his arm balanced him, and he stood his ground.
"Precisely," Remus said. "Their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. And unfortunately, since my tenure, the classroom has expanded beyond the walls of Hogwarts."
Molly shuddered, and her posture slumped. "What are they going to do?" Her voice remained shrill, but had lost the accusatory edge. "None of them will tell me anything more than helping Harry in his work for Dumbledore. I assume that means Order work?"
"I don't know, Molly." Remus sighed heavily, and reached out to touch her shoulder. "I am certain that whatever Dumbledore has asked is of great importance to the Order."
"Whatever? You meant you don't know?" She was looking at Remus like he imagined a mother Hungarian Horntail might look at an intruder in her nest, and his hand fell to his side. "Ask them!"
Arthur's tall, thin frame appeared in the doorway behind his wife. "It's Harry's birthday, Molly," he said quietly, and Remus noted, with embarrassment, that Fleur and Bill were standing close by, along with the twins, rapt on the scene. "The family are all here. Let's not spoil it."
Molly shrugged away as Arthur's hands settled on her shoulders. "Nothing will be spoilt once we put a stop to this nonsense. Ask them, Remus!"
Tonks' grip tightened, solidifying Remus' confidence more than any words of support could do.
"It is not my place," he said steadily.
"Not your place to protect them? You're the leader of the Order!"
Remus inhaled sharply, yet felt as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Tonks' fingers seemed likely to leave permanent indentions on his arm. Leader of the Order? It was news to him. And dizzying. And...Where was Harry? Remus sincerely hoped the young man wasn't hearing Molly assert the limitations of his youth.
"Molly," "Mum," Arthur and Bill rebuked at once, as Fleur added, "'arry is ze Triwizard Champion and ze Chosen One. Of course 'e ees capable of Order work!"
Face getting redder, revealing no sign that she'd heard them, Molly glared at Remus through anguished eyes. "You of all people ought to understand why this upsets me." Her hands balled into fists at her side, and she was shaking. "You promised me the Order would look out for my children."
"They're not--" Remus began at the same time as Arthur, in a strange, choked voice said, "That's not fair, Molly." The latter caught her shoulders and started to turn her inside. "Please--"
The screech of door hinges beyond Arthur in the house, followed by a thump against the wall, cut him off. As the Weasleys turned, Remus peered around just as Harry stumbled backward out of the broom cupboard.
"I'm sorry, Ginny," he panted. "We can't. I don't know what got into me…" He pushed his askew glasses higher up on his nose as he glanced round frantically, mortified. He reached into the cupboard and pulled out his Firebolt. "I'm going for a fly."
He pushed through the crowd, and the instant his feet hit the yard, he mounted and took off in a swift motion. Remus glanced back inside as Ginny, face obscured by her dishevelled hair, darted out of the broom cupboard, sobbing quietly.
The twins, oddly pale and wearing the expression which Remus recognised immediately as the one that accompanied a prank gone very, very wrong, went after her, and there was the thunder of feet on the stairs.
"Why are you standing there looking stupid with your mouth open?" Hermione's brusque voice drifted outside. "Go after Harry!"
The next instant Ron, with a grim expression that might have been either anger or anxiety, tore outside, mounted his broom a bit less gracefully than Harry had, and flew after his mate.
For a moment, the Burrow was as still and silent as it had ever been; no one seemed even to breathe.
Then, in a flash of red, Molly whirled back to face Remus. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy as tears streaked down her cheeks, glittering in the lamplight. She looked exactly as she had that night after he'd dispelled her Boggart, and she'd fallen, weeping, onto his shoulder.
This time, Molly met his gaze and said tremulously, "Don't you dare tell me they're not children!"
She staggered around Tonks, muttering about needing more eggs so she could get started baking the wedding cake. Arthur followed, casting Remus an apologetic, but troubled glance.
Remus' heart plummeted into his stomach. Arthur might not agree with Molly, but of course he was equally distressed about his youngest children -- and their friends whom he, too, regarded as his own -- being thrust into this war.
"Don't mind her, Remus," said Bill as Tonks nudged Remus inside and shut the door behind them. "She's going through a lot of changes just now."
"Per'aps eet ees ze change," Fleur said.
She was so serious that Remus didn't dare laugh, though he wanted to, very much -- which was a tremendous relief; he wished he could do as Tonks was, and hide his face in her shoulder to rein in the laughter.
"Well," said Bill, amusement in his voice as well as he wrapped an arm around his fiancée's waist, "how about that birthday cake we were all coming inside to eat?"
Fleur looked at him, scandalised. "We cannot eat 'arry's birthday cake without him! And anyway," she went on, wrinkling her perfect nose in a look of utter disgust, "you need a shower, and I want to go 'ave an 'eart to 'eart chat weeth Ginny. Zose twins cannot be saying ze things a woman needs to 'ear."
Remus gave in to a chuckle at the image of Fleur towing her hungry husband-to-be up the stairs. He was startled into silence again when Tonks suddenly caught him in a fierce hug, pressing her cheek to his chest. It caught him off balance, and his lower back connected with the broom cupboard doorknob. Shifting off of it, he returned Tonks' embrace.
"I'm sorry Molly had a go at you like that," Tonks said. "You stood your ground brilliantly, and you're right, so don't look back and think you could've done anything differently. She won't stay upset at you for long. It's not really you she's mad at."
Her hair tickled Remus' cheek as he nodded. He raised his head as the earlier question returned to his mind. "Do people really see me as a leader?"
Tonks pulled back slightly and lifted her face. "Molly just said she does. And I certainly do."
Somehow, stated calmly, and sincerely like that, it didn't seem as astonishing as when Molly had shouted it accusatorially. He had been leading meetings lately, and even the night Dumbledore died, people had turned to him with questions about the closing of school, about Bill. Perhaps it had been for a reason other than his first-hand knowledge about werewolves.
"But of all people to upset..." said Remus with a sigh, drawing Tonks close again. "Molly…"
"Even the best leaders can't always do what everyone wants," Tonks interrupted gently; then, surprisingly, her eyes misted, and her voice became high and pinched as she said, "Wish I'd realised that last year. Dumbledore hated sending you underground, and I only made it harder for him to live with…"
Heart aching, Remus pulled her tight against him again, holding her head, kissing her hair. "What have you been telling everyone?"
She sniffled and croaked, "Don't look back."
"That goes for you, too, you know."
She looked up at him again, and her eyes were dry, only a little red-rimmed. "I really love you a lot."
They kissed, and immediately the touch of her lips set Remus' pulse racing and blood surging. He felt the cold metal of the doorknob against his palm as his fingers curled instinctively around it and turned it.
"This is brave," Tonks murmured against his mouth as his back met with a protrusion in the wall, which somehow his muddled brain registered to be the narrow edge of a shelf, and sent something pitching to the floor, "snogging in Molly's broom cupboard."
This was news to Remus. Opening an eye, he found that, sure enough, they were ensconced in the dark, confined space. He hadn't meant to bring Tonks in here at all. Instinctively pulling a girl into a broom cupboard to snog was not within Remus' realm of experience, and it had been a compulsion, not bravery, that drove him to it. He felt sure Tonks was right; it took a great deal of courage, indeed, do so in Molly's house, when she was already upset with him.
He was too intoxicated by Tonks' closeness, by her fingers curling into his hair, by her lips melting into his again, to care. And he was a Gryffindor, wasn't he? Surely lion-hearted courage applied to broom cupboard snogs, as well. James and Sirius had always asserted so. Remus deepened the kiss, and produced the most encouraging sounds from her...
After a moment, however, he found himself caring very much about a question that leapt to the front of his mind, demanding precedence over sensation. Tonks whimpered when he pulled his mouth from hers, and the ragged sounds of their breath made it difficult to resist kissing her again. Resting his forehead against hers, he murmured, "Can I do what you want?"
He felt her brow arch. "What?"
Remus took out his wand. "Lumos." He set the wand on the shelf he was pressed against, then studied her face in the bluish light. "What do you want, Tonks?"
Tonks' eyebrows remained knit, then understanding lit her features as she found her way back to their previous conversation about Molly.
"Just you."
She leant up to kiss him again, and Remus caught her eyes rounding and lips falling open in a look of surprise -- an astonishment he shared -- as he dropped down on one knee.
His hand fumbled in his trouser pocket, fingers clumsily attempting to grasp the delicate ring he'd carried about for the past two days.
As he drew it out, Tonks gasped. Remus peered up through his fringe to see both her hands fly up to cover her mouth. He smiled because he'd hoped to catch her off-guard, and she was adorable; he frowned because he'd caught her off-guard, and she might not be ready.
But there was no going back now. He wanted to assure her of his faith, and this was the only way he knew how.
He swallowed hard, then heard a hoarse voice that sounded too far away to be his own ask, "Will you marry me, Nymphadora?"
Her hand shot out to clutch his. Her eyes shimmered, and Remus' body had never been tenser with anticipation, not even before transformation, than it was now, as he awaited the answer that would alter everything forever.
Though Tonks was bathed in the bluish light from his wand, Remus knew the ethereal radiance on her face came from an entirely inner source. She was beautiful.
Dear Merlin: she was about to tell him that she was his. Forever.
Her full lips parted, but the only sound that emitted from them was her voice catching. She smiled softly, shyly, the tip of her tongue just darting out to moisten her lips. Remus squeezed her hand.
Tonks opened her mouth again, and this time managed a whisper: "Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus!"
A laugh burst from Remus' chest, only to lodge in his throat as the cupboard door suddenly swung open, light flooding in.
There, with a basket of eggs and holding an apron she must have been about to put away, stood Molly.
"Why is everyone so keen on sneaking into this broom--?"
Her eyes fell on the ring, then her gaze pulled back to take in their pose; the apron and basket fell to the floor with the crunch of dozens of shells. Remus felt egg yolk seeping stickily through the knee of his trousers.
"Is that…?" Molly stammered. "Remus, are you…? Oh my…"
She stepped back, and Remus released his breath and the chuckle. He covered Tonks' hand with his free one. "Is that a yes?"
Tonks blushed. "Of course it's a yes."
Their shaky laughter mingled as Remus slid the ring -- a slender gold band with a diamond no larger than a fairy's teardrop, with an even more minute pink and blue sapphire set on either side -- onto Tonks' trembling finger. He vaguely registered Molly's indistinct squeals and the stairs thundering overhead, and then Tonks launched herself into his arms, knocking him backward on his posterior on the egg-covered floor of the broom cupboard.
"Yes, yes, yes!" She followed each word with a kiss. "A million times, yes!"
Though Remus hadn't expected an answer but yes, he hadn't been prepared for the way actually hearing the word -- a million times -- rang through him like the most resonant of joyous bells.
But before he could really process just how it made him feel, Molly's voice cried over the cheers and clapping from what sounded like everyone crowding into the small space between the front door and the cupboard,
"I'm so happy for you!" Wiping her eyes as she leant into the nook to hug Tonks, she added, "You deserve happiness, dear."
In the pause, she gave Remus a look that was sincere and apologetic and sought forgiveness. "Both of you."
Before he could thank her, the twins bounded forward, caught their mother's arms, and dragged her away from the cupboard, as one of them kicked a foot back to shut the door in Remus' and Tonks' faces. "Let 'em celebrate!"
"I told you Molly wouldn't stay angry at you," said Tonks, sliding into Remus' lap, legs wrapping around his back as she kissed him lingeringly.
"Mmm, that was my strategy. I thought, 'By Jove! I know how to work my way back into Molly's good graces. I'll propose to Tonks."
Tonks laughed, and removed a hand from his shoulder to admire her ring. "You just happened to have an engagement ring in your pocket." Her eyes drifted down and scrutinised him with the look she must wear in interrogation settings. "How long have you been planning to propose to me?"
"I was going to wait. I thought the wedding would be a romantic setting."
Another laugh from Tonks made her wriggle on his lap, causing more eggshells to crunch beneath them. "But naturally you realised that of course a broom cupboard was more romantic."
"Naturally."
Remus briefly toyed with admitting to her that he'd been unsure she was ready, but that was looking back; doubt had come from letting his gaze wander from the future. He would not spoil this moment.
Instead, he released Tonks with one arm to stretch upward for his wand. "Bit crowded in here, don't you think?"
"And eggy."
Leaning in to kiss her again, Remus Apparated them to their bedroom.
A/N: One more chapter to go, folks, and in it I promise to reveal the answer to the mystery: "Just what is the deal with this broom cupboard?"
Thanks ever so much for all your lovely feedback thus far. Your encouragement means a lot to me. This time, reviewers get to pick their ideal Remus proposal...
Read Part Five