A Reflection of Himself

Lupin and Tonks sat there in the dank basement of the Hog's Head for quite some time. Neither had realized how much time had passed while wrapped in each other's arms, but finally, when Lupin sensed that the hour had grown very late, he glanced at his watch, and the fact was confirmed.

"It's nearing midnight very quickly," he observed.

Shocked, Tonks's eyes grew large as she removed herself from Lupin's space. "Oh, dear Merlin," she groaned. "How could I let all that time just pass by like that? I should have been home hours ago..." In the midst of her frets, she chanced a look at Lupin. "I'm so sorry for taking up your time like this. You probably have a lot of things waiting for you back at Hogwarts."

"Shh, shh," Lupin said softly, gently placing a finger on her lips. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Besides, if the students have to wait an extra day or two to get their results back on an exam, it's not a big deal." He smiled wryly at her.

Lupin tried not to smile further and burst into laughter when he heard light snoring coming from within the confines of his pocket. Tonks cast him a quizzical look.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, a silly thing, really," he said, shrugging. "Your cousin must have grown so bored that he's fallen asleep in my pocket."

"Sirius?" Tonks asked. "Oh, that's right. I had almost forgotten he was in your pocket. Kind of makes the last couple of hours seem a little less... erm..." She felt like saying "intimate," but she found herself growing shy as she stood there so close to him. What if he didn't mean anything more by spending the past couple of hours with her than just being there as a friend to offer his comfort and support?

Lupin noticed that Tonks's gaze was downcast and could practically feel the nerves radiating from her being. He cleared his throat awkwardly, knowing that to finish her sentence for her could perhaps ruin their friendship.

What if she doesn't even want to think of me in that way? As possibly something more than just a friend? Oh, Remus, old boy! You're a fool! She's something like twelve years younger than you! To her, you're probably an old man! And a poor one at that...

While Lupin inwardly berated himself, Tonks took note of his uneasiness. She misinterpreted his discomfort, thinking he had grown tired of her company. Deciding it best to end the night before something worse happened, Tonks suggested, "Perhaps I ought to get going. You know... the late hour and all..."

As she trailed off, Lupin finally managed to silence his inner thoughts and worries and focus only on her words. It's now or never.

"I could, uh, take you home," he offered, sounding akin to a teenage boy asking a girl for a dance. "You really shouldn't be alone at such a late hour of the night."

Lupin didn't know it, but his words caused Tonks's heart to leap with glee inside. Feeling her cheeks burning with this newfound emotion, she managed a smile and nodded. "Thank you. That's quite kind of you. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to-"

"I want to," Lupin blurted before he could stop himself.

His admission was enough for their doubts to die on the spot. There was no longer any doubt that they were beginning to form feelings for each other, and it was endearing to Tonks that he would think of her in this way. So, together, they left the basement, exitted through the back door, and apparated to the door to Tonks's little cottage.

Tonks's humble home was located in the countryside and was surrounded by forest on all sides. They both had to utter Lumos to get a little light, as the sky was overcast. The chilliness of the breeze was all-to-evident as it blew, rustling the nearly bare trees and the hair on their heads.

"Well, this is it," Tonks remarked, unsure of what to say.

"It's nice," Lupin replied with a smile.

"Would you, er, like to come in... for a cup of tea?" Tonks offered.

"Thank you, but no, I think I ought to be heading back." In all truth, Lupin wanted to remain with her a little while longer, but now that she was home, she would be more or less safe. As an Auror, her home was unplottable. He didn't what to further impose himself on her, and if there was even the smallest amount of chemistry developing between them, Lupin didn't want to push his luck. He had spent more time with this pretty, young lady this evening than he had spent with anyone of the opposite sex in years.

"Well, all right," Tonks sighed. "I'll see you soon, then?"

"Of course."

"Good night, Remus. And thank you again for... for everything."

"Good night, Nymphadora," he replied, still growing accustomed to the feel of the name on his tongue. Leaning toward her, Lupin softly brushed his lips against her cheek in a swift motion and then apparated away.

After he left, Tonks entered her home, a small smile decorating her face. In the midst of so many tears, she had found happiness. Once she was fully inside, she touched the place on her cheek where Lupin had kissed her, wondering if it was just her imagination that that particular area felt warmer than the rest of her body.

She proceeded to remove her coat and shoes and walked into the living room, where she sat down on the couch and started a fire in the grate with a simple Incendio. Once she felt settled, she picked up the framed picture she had of her parents that she had kept on the table next to her couch for years. They were much younger in that particular photograph that they had been when they died. They smiled at Tonks and waved, placed their arms around each other lovingly, and continued to look past the glass that separated them from the outside world. Tonks knew that the reality of the situation was the much more than a thin piece of mere glass separated her from her parents.

Placing the photograph back onto the table, Tonks wondered just how far away the world of the living was from the world of the dead. The living seldom think about death, as it is something that people simply do not feel comfortable discussing. She believed that they were in a better place and realized that, in a way, they were better off now. They were now free from the cruelties and suffering of the world of the living.

Her thoughts eventually began to drift, and Tonks felt her eyelids growing heavy, so she retired to her room for the night. Once she was settled in bed, she closed her eyes and entered into the world of dreams, where, it seemed, the barrier that divides the world of the living and the world of the dead was torn down. The great chasm was unbreached, and the mystery of where people go when they die was answered. As Dumbledore had once told Harry, those who we love never really leave us. They are still with us in spirit, in our hearts, and Tonks awoke the next morning knowing that she would be reunited with her parents one day.

A few days later, Lupin was grading papers in his office, while Sirius, from his vantage point, gazed on with an ever-growing expression of boredom. All week, he had been asking Lupin when he was going to see Tonks again, urging him to ask her out to dinner.

"Like a date?" Lupin had inquired, feeling a knot beginning to form in his stomach.

"Yes, you silly git," Sirius had teased. "'Like a date.' Or how 'bout just 'a date?' Geez, Louise, Moony! You're acting just like you did when we were students!"

Lupin had cast him a half-hearted glare, but there had been no malice in it. The rest of the week had passed in more or less the same manner.

"You know," Sirius now said knowingly, plainly and purposefully interrupting Lupin's train of thought as he tried in vain to focus on grading, "I could ask you the same thing, but before I do, I have to ask you if you'll finally give me a real answer." Sirius coated his last few words with dripping sarcasm.

Lupin resisted the urge to roll his eyes and placed the quill down. He gave Sirius an expectant look and simply sighed.

"I don't want to rush anything," Lupin insisted. "You know I was never the ladies' man in my youth. What makes you think I would be twenty-some years later? You were the one with the looks, Sirius, and as I recall, you knew it, too. You could turn on the charm heavy and thick, and you wouldn't relent until-"

"Until the lucky lass said yes," Sirius said smugly. "Yes, I was rather charming in my prime, wasn't it? Alas," he continued dramatically, "those days have long since passed, and I now find myself as worn as can be!"

Lupin chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "You're something else, you know that?"

"Well, I might very well be something else," Sirius acknowledged, growing serious again, "but you are really something else. Honestly, Moony, you're not a bad bloke. Some girls like the quiet, shy ones, and in way of looks, well, you're much better looking than Snape."

"Be nice," Lupin mock-lectured. He paused, then added thoughtfully, "Maybe you are right for once. It couldn't hurt to ask."

"Nope, it wouldn't. In fact, for you, my lonely friend, I think it would hurt more not to ask. I can just picture it now - You'll be locking yourself up pitifully in your room, and the only one you'll complain to about the whole escapade will be me."

Finally, Lupin did roll his eyes. "Well, at least I got you to stop goading me to ask her in the first place."

With a triumphant nod, Sirius knew that his work here was done. "Off to visit Harry!" he exclaimed, saluting Lupin as he disappeared out of his picture.

Lupin didn't have to ask the reason why he would be visiting Harry. It was all too obvious.

In the Gryffindor common room, Harry was in the middle of studying when Sirius suddenly appeared in one of the paintings nearby. He didn't even notice him at first, for his attention was on reading his Charms book, but when Sirius yelled, "Hiya, Harry," Harry looked up and smiled.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed, unable to hide the fact that he was happy to see his godfather.

"Well, you'll never guess what I finally got him to do," Sirius said proudly.

Harry didn't have to ask who Sirius was talking about, for Sirius had been in and out of the common room all week, filling Harry in on the latest lack of developments as far as "Project Hook-Up Remus and Tonks" was concerned. While Harry had left the Order meeting over a week ago feeling horrible for Tonks, this new development gave Sirius and him something to talk about that would keep their minds occupied. They were happy for both Lupin and Tonks, but as the days passed, both began to wonder if Lupin would ever gather the courage to ask Tonks out on a date.

"You mean, you finally managed it?" Harry asked, his eyes lighting up, a bit shocked, but quite pleased. "Why d'you suppose it took this long? He was in Gryffindor. You'd think he'd've had more courage."

"Yes, perhaps," Sirius mused, "but I seem to recall you, Harry, being just as nervous around girls. Your mate Ron isn't any better, either."

"Okay, point taken," Harry surrendered. "Anyway, that's great. It's about time, too!"

"Yeah, I'd say!" Sirius exclaimed exasperatedly, loud enough for a few other students to hear him, causing them to cast several curious (some annoyed) glances in the direction of the painting.

"Oops, a little too loud there, eh?" Sirius asked, winking.

"Yeah, just a little."

"Well, since I've delivered the message, I guess I'd best let you get back to your studies there, Harry. Merlin knows you need to do well this year, what with being a future Auror and all." Sirius smiled proudly at his godson.

"Well, I'm not an Auror yet," Harry replied, "but here's hoping."

"Yep, here's hoping," Sirius echoed, saluting Harry in the same manner in which he had previously saluted Lupin.

When Saturday finally arrived, Lupin decided that if he was going to ask Tonks out on a date, he had better pay her a visit when he wasn't busy and she wasn't working. So, walking across the freezing grounds of Hogwarts, Lupin made his way to the other side of the boundaries and focused on apparating to his destination. When he appeared in front of her house, his felt butterflies begin to flutter in his stomach.

Okay, so maybe this was a bad idea... His doubts were getting the worst of him as he started to second-guess himself. Now that he was physically here, the courage he had worked up seemed to evaporate completely. A part of him called himself a bloody coward, but the other part didn't seem to mind so much being called a coward, as that part seemed all-too-ready to admit it as fact.

I'm NOT a coward! I can do this! But I haven't been in a situation like this in ages... Being a werewolf all those years didn't exactly make dating an easy option, but that's not a problem anymore.

Finally, Lupin, growing impatient with the voices that were carrying out a rather long, heated, irrational argument in his head, literally stomped his foot on the ground.

ENOUGH!

Clenching his fists, he braced himself and took a tentative step toward the door. Swallowing slowly, the thick saliva scratching his dry throat, Lupin raised his right fist to the door and made to knock...

Then the door suddenly opened!

Certainly not expecting this, Lupin jumped back and released a shocked gasp into the frigid air. Standing in the doorway, equally surprised, was Tonks, her eyes large and her mouth agape. For a split second, they both stood there, too stunned to move or say anything. Then, when they did speak, it was at the same time.

"Remus? Wha- What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, so sorry- I was just-"

Lupin knew he was stammering pathetically and trailed off without ever formingly a fully coherent sentence, leaving Tonks just staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I, er... was just in the neighborhood," he offered feebly.

Oh, a real fine thing to say! Lupin thought, angry at himself for being so foolish.

"'In the neighborhood?'" Tonks asked in disbelief. "Er... right."

They both knew it was a lousy excuse, for there was certainly no "neighborhood" to speak of in the middle of a forest in the countryside. Tonks knew without a doubt the real reason for his coming, and she was touched by it.

"I was actually just headed out for a little walk," she began, trying to clear the air between them. "Would you, er, care to join me?"

"That would be lovely," Lupin replied, managing a small smile.

So, they took that "little walk," as Tonks had so nicely put it, and afterwards, they returned to Tonks's quaint cottage and sat by the fireside and talked over hot tea. Without realizing it and without having to ask her for a date, Lupin had made a special date out of that afternoon by just spending time with her. When dinnertime drew near, Tonks offered to cook something, and Lupin kindly offered to help. Finally, over dinner, Tonks asked between mouthfuls, "So, enlighten me, Remus, what was your real reason for coming by today?"

"To spend time with you," he said. "And to ask you if you would like to do it again sometime."

He was pleasantly surprised when she grasped his hand in hers and squeezed it earnestly. "That would be lovely."