[Series index] Kaleidoscope

[shimotsuki]

Kaleidoscope (G to PG-13 | RL/NT | July of OotP through April of DH)

Remus Lupin has long believed that love is a luxury beyond his means. Nymphadora Tonks has been too busy proving herself as an Auror to pay any attention to romance. Their strong if unexpected friendship is a source of comfort in difficult times - until it threatens to turn into something more.

[A series in progress. Most recent additions: Taking Leave, And Yet So Far, and A Moth to a Flame.]
Part I: Colours (OotP)

Colours has been completed and revised. The final version is now posted here and at FanFiction.net.

1. Angles of Perception (3505 words | PG)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version ("Initiation")]
   Tonks used to think that her life as an Auror was busy enough. Little did she know that one curry lunch with Kingsley Shacklebolt would get her involved with an underground organisation, her fugitive cousin, and a quiet man who, she suspects, might be a lot more interesting than he looks.
   • This story has incorporated two older drabbles, Fascinated (posted at rt_challenge) and Strategic Thinking.
2. The Lie of the Land (1605 words | PG)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version at pulped_fictions]
   Remus learns a few things about the newest Order member when he recruits her for a spot of pranking. It does occur to him to wonder what she might have learned, in turn.
   
   
3. Marauding for the Cause (3920 words | PG)
      [also at FF.N]
   An Order mission featuring Death Eaters, a banshee lamp, and high expectations all around.
   • An early version of an outtake from this story was originally posted as a drabble at rt_challenge.
4. Stripes (2710 words | PG)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version]
   Sirius discovers that Tonks is unaware of something rather important about Remus, so he takes matters into his own hands.
   • This story has incorporated two ficlets posted at rt_challenge in January 2007, Stripes and Revelations.
5. Moon by Moon (2800 words | PG)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version at metamorfic_moon]
   Last month, Sirius carefully explained to Tonks that Remus needs privacy after the full moon. But now somehow, something has started to change.
   
   
6. The Things We Remember (4705 words | PG/mild profanity and Father Christmas spoilers)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version at metamorfic_moon]
   Sometimes, the hardest thing about Christmas is not the giving, but the receiving. Still, a carefully chosen Muggle gift just might be magical enough to set a little piece of the past right again.
   
   
7. Words Unspoken (3240 words | PG-13/mild profanity, very mild innuendo)
      [also at FF.N]
   Tonks is having a hard time balancing her daily life with all the secrets she must keep for the Order. Remus gives her some advice - but in doing so, he only makes the whole situation that much more complicated.
   
   
8. Unforeseen Attachments (3690 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version at metamorfic_moon]
   The Weasley twins apply their formidable research and development skills to the problem of Walburga Black's portrait, but things go wrong rather quickly. At least Tonks is there to save the day - only, now Remus is starting to notice just how many of her evenings she spends at Grimmauld Place.
   
   
9. If a Seed be Sown (3460 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version ("Friends") at metamorfic_moon]
   Tonks has almost given up hope that Remus will ever see her as more than a friend, until Sirius steps in to do what he can for his friends. But no one expects the evening to end the way it does.
   
   
10. Gather Up the Fragments that Remain (3880 words | PG/grief and reference to character death)
       [also at FF.N]
    After the Department of Mysteries, after Bellatrix, after the Veil, Remus tries to get things done, and tries not to think about what he has lost. Especially when the news he has to deliver to Tonks might cost him her friendship as well.
    • This story incorporates parts of two older ficlets: Gather Up the Fragments that Remain, posted at day_by_drabble, and Clarity, posted at metamorfic_moon.]
    
    
11. Catching Hold (2490 words | PG/mild profanity, reference to character death)
       [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version at metamorfic_moon]
    Tonks is afraid that Remus will disappear again, the way he did the first time he lost his best friends. But then he shows her something he's never shown anyone else, and she realises that there may be a way to hold on, after all.
    
    
12. Blindsided (5590 words | PG/mild profanity)
       [also at FF.N] [ original LJ version]
    Remus makes a terrifying discovery, but he really should have seen it coming. For her part, Tonks discovers just how much Remus intends to deny himself - and her.
    • This story incorporates parts of two ficlets that were originally posted at rt_challenge, Blindsided and Unattainable.

Part II: Mirrors (HBP)

Mirrors is currently under revision for posting at FanFiction.net.

1. Now Wait for the Tide to Turn (5205 words | PG-13/profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   Remus resolves to wait for as long as it takes until Tonks stops imagining herself in love with him. Tonks refuses to give up until Remus lets himself have the love he deserves. The irresistible force meets the immovable object, for the first of a million times.
   
   
2. Colours Under the Moon (3090 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   The more Tonks learns about Remus's mission to infiltrate Greyback's pack, the more reasons she has to worry.
   
   
3. If Battle Lines are Drawn (3440 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   At the first full meeting of the Order of the Phoenix after the fight at the Ministry, Molly keeps noticing things that are...different. [At rt_morelove.]
   
   
4.  [new]  A Moth to a Flame (3950 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   In the weeks between losing Sirius and leaving for his mission with Greyback’s pack, Remus fights to hold on to his friendship with Tonks. But the hardest part of all is trying not to want more. [At rt_morelove.]
   
   
5.  [new]  And Yet So Far (4840 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   What with missing Sirius, spending every day driving off dementors from Hogsmeade, and helping Remus get ready for an Order mission straight out of his worst nightmares, Tonks isn’t feeling very pink. Which may explain why it’s so hard to keep herself together as Remus lets her further in and pushes her further away, all at the same time.
   • First drafts of a couple of fragments of this chapter were posted elsewhere: Invitation, at day_by_drabble, and (the misleadingly named) Taking Leave (excerpt), at rt_morelove.
6.  [new]  Taking Leave (4950 words | PG/mild profanity)
      [also at FF.N]
   Remus is cutting all his ties, steeling himself to leave the Order behind and join up with Greyback's pack. Tonks knows he has to leave, but that doesn't mean she is willing to give up.
   
   
7. Out of Sight (3658 words | PG/mild profanity) - As Remus sets out to join Greyback's pack, memories of his friendship with Tonks are his anchor to sanity. But there are certain things that both of them simply must forget, and time spent apart will let them do that. ...Won't it? [At metamorfic_moon.]
   
   
8. Toil and Trouble
   [Remus faces Greyback; Tonks faces Slughorn.]
   
   
9. Subterfuge (3036 words | PG/mild violence) - Tonks answers a summons from Remus. It's the first she's seen him since he left to join Greyback's pack. But the request he makes of her is not what she was expecting. [At metamorfic_moon.]
   
   
10. [Lack of progress with the pack.]
    
    
11. Sanctuary (3045 words | PG) - Tonks wasn't going to go to the Burrow on Christmas, until she got Molly's owl. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    • This story is a reconceptualization of a drabble, entitled Waves, that was originally posted at rt_challenge.
12. Reaction (3808 words | PG/reference to offstage violence) - After a bad full moon with the pack, Remus seeks temporary refuge at the Burrow, so Molly schemes to give him a little time with Tonks. Only, things do not go according to her plan. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    
    
13. What It Takes (4750 words | PG-13/profanity, reference to offstage violence) - Remus has been living with Greyback’s pack for months without making any tangible progress at all. Loving someone he can never have certainly does not improve matters. But one day, Greyback goes a little too far, and some things, at least, begin to change. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    
    
14. To See Clearly (4293 words | PG/mild profanity) - Remus risks his position in the pack, and maybe even his life, in a final attempt to stop Greyback's werewolves from aligning with the Death Eaters. And it seems he may be making another last, desperate stand as well. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    
    
15. Landslide (7600 words | PG-13/mild profanity, brief descriptions of violence, canon minor-character death) - Remus is so very certain that he is right to push Tonks away, no matter how much pain it causes both of them. And Tonks will never give up, not as long as she knows that Remus loves her. But the inevitable collision between the irresistible force and the immovable object takes an unexpected turn on the night the Death Eaters invade Hogwarts. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    • An early excerpt of this story idea was also posted at metamorfic_moon as Landslide.

Part III: Patterns (DH)

1. One Step Forward (3510 words | PG) - Remus goes to have dinner with Tonks, still fighting second thoughts.
   • A much shorter and very different early version of this scene was originally posted to rt_challenge under the title Second Thoughts.
   
   
2. Clearing the Table (2914 words | PG) - Andromeda had always hoped that Nymphadora would bring someone special home for dinner someday, but when that day comes, her daughter’s choice of guest is quite a shock.
   • This story is based on two ficlets posted at rt_challenge in January 2007, Absolutely, Positively, Completely Sure and Clearing the Table, but they have been revised for compliance with the DH timeline and slightly expanded.
3. [The Wolfsbane discussion, and other adjustments.]
   
   
4. Asking for Forever (5020 words | PG-13/mild profanity, cuddling) - A mere fortnight month after the relationship finally begins is hardly the best time to ask a certain question. But what if it's now or never? [At metamorfic_moon.]
   • Canon timeline error: This story should be taking place one month after Dumbledore's death, not two weeks; please make the necessary mental edits when reading.
5. Promises (3770 words | PG) - Arthur is a witness: to Tonks being determined to outwit Dolores Umbridge just this once, and to Remus being torn between worry, guilt, and sheer joy. Oh, and to a wedding.
   
   
6. Crossing the Threshold (3581 words | PG-13/mild profanity, intimate situations) - A proposal in the morning, a marriage in the afternoon; everything has happened so fast that Remus doesn't quite know what to expect on his wedding night.
   
   
7. Need (1079 words | PG-13/profanity, implied intimacy) - In the aftermath of a narrow escape, love surfaces as anger, relief becomes need, and desperation leads to carelessness...with far-reaching consequences. [At rt_challenge.]
   
   
8. [Things go from bad to worse.]
   
   
9. Breaking Point (2821 words | PG-13/torture, mild profanity) - In the dark hours after the attack on Bill and Fleur's wedding, Andromeda begins to think a little better of her own new son-in-law. But even an Order veteran who can stand up to a Death Eater's Cruciatus Curse has his limits.
   
   
10. All That I Am (6422 words | PG-13/mild profanity, intimate situations) - Remus makes the choice to go home again, but now he must convince Tonks that he is home for good. What can he possibly say this time, if even wedding vows were not enough? [At rt_challenge.]
    
    
11. Moving Forward (2847 words | PG-13) - Remus has come home, but Tonks needs to work out how they can fit themselves together again. [Note: Major revisions are planned for this one, to make it more of a plotty adventure, and to put off some of the emotional confrontation until the following chapter. So at the moment, this installment and the next are a little redundant, character-development-wise, but that will change.]
    
    
12. Any Road Runs Two Ways (4610 words | PG-13/intimate situations, mild profanity) - Remus would do anything to keep the full moon from being a burden on Tonks. But there is such a thing as going too far.
    
    
13. [Potterwatch.]
    
    
14. Messages (3835 words | PG/mild profanity) - Tonks has a lot to worry about as Christmas approaches: her decreasing usefulness as an undercover agent, her father's fate as a Muggle-born wizard on the run, and the fact that her parents and her husband still don't seem to understand each other. [At metamorfic_moon.]
    
    
15. [Ted.]
    
    
16. Porridge (2638 words | PG) - Andromeda finds that the loss of her husband and the imminent arrival of her grandson have changed the way she views her son-in-law. But she has built her share of the walls between them, and it may be too late for her to pull them down.
    
    
17. [Teddy: The last chapter - but not the End.]

Happily ever after?

The series Warp and Weft is an AU sequel to Kaleidoscope that begins with By a Thread (~7800 words | PG).

Other R/T stories

See my Index of Stories for a few more R/T stories that don't quite fit into the Kaleidoscope series.
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