Young Girl

8- Missions

«Just a short, but cute one»

Tonks's POV-

"Nymphadora." Moody barked at me.  I snapped my head up instantly, jumping as my daydream was brought to an abrupt end.  I could see Remus and Sirius across the table trying to hold in their laughter and stuck my tongue out at them, "Concentrate Nymphadora." He said again impatiently.  The two started to laugh even harder and Sirius let out a girly squeak that he just about managed to cut off halfway through.  It took all of my effort to not let my mouth curl into a smile, and Moody probably knew that as he sighed heavily.

"Sorry." I muttered, looking over at my mentor as I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes.  I tried to aim a kick at Sirius under the table, but missed and hit Remus in the shin instead, making his eyes water.  I started to mouth an apology, but I was interrupted again before it was finished.

"If you were listening," He continued angrily, "I was just giving out the pairings for missions.  Bill, can you and Hestia alternate between guard duty for the next week please." They both nodded and smiled at each other briefly before looking back to Mad-eye, "Kingsley, can you and Arthur keep an eye on Fudge at the Ministry for us please.  I think that's everyone." I pouted slightly, noticing how I wasn't included in that, even if I did work at the Ministry.

"And me?" Remus flashed a rare smile and my stomach did a backflip.  I tried to cover up my shocked face by sneezing and it kind of worked, but Sirius and Molly were looking sideways at me, which is never a good sign.

"Can you and Nymphadora..." Moody started to say, but was cut off by me growling 'Tonks' at him.  He ignored me, carrying on with, "Follow and watch Rudolphus Lestrange.  We need information, don't give yourself away.  Report back once or twice a week, and don't do anything stupid Nymphadora." He added exasperatedly as I yelled Tonks at him.

«That Night»

"Why have you got a flask?" Remus asked me in the corridor, a hint of amusement and disbelief in his eyes.  It was approaching dusk and we were preparing to leave.  Sirius had complained a lot about my clothes choice (skinny jeans and a long sleeved, lace crop top) but someone's got to play overprotective relative and we were finally ready to head out.  We were going to go over to the Lestrange Mansion first, and if he wasn't there, head back and rethink.

"Its hot chocolate." I shrugged, "Its not exactly warm outside and I couldn't find the brandy.  Next best thing.  But come on, are you telling me you don't like it?"

"I never complained." He smiled, "In fact, I'm more than happy for it to come along." I laughed lightly, handing it over quickly as I pulled a hoody on. 

"Bye Sirius!" I shouted into the kitchen, doing one last check to make sure I had my wand in my back pocket before heading down to the front door.  Remus followed, still holding the large purple flask in both hands. 

"Do you know where you're going?" He asked me as soon as we were outside, and the door was closed behind us.  I nodded confidently, holding out a hand which he took after a couple seconds of thought.  His palms were chapped and his fingers wrapped the whole way around my hand, but I won't pretend it didn't feel nice.

"Mum told me the address earlier." I replied quickly before twisting away on the spot and pulling him with me.  We landed behind a tree at the foot of a large garden, in front of a palace like house.  Remus let out a low whistle as he looked around, the garden stretched away as far as we could see in the dim light.

"Homonus Revelio." He whispered, pointing his wand towards the house before saying, "He's there with twenty houselves.  No other people."

"You sure?" I checked quickly, looking up at him front the edge of my eye, twisting my head because my neck had just clicked and ached a bit.  He nodded silently, still looking at the house with a tint of jealousy in his eyes, "Shall we sit down?" I pulled him over to a small collection of trees and plants and sat at the bottom of it, pulling a branch in front of me.

"You never cease to amaze me." He smiled down at me, but after a couple of seconds, doing the same and sitting next to me.  I tucked my knees up to my chest, ignoring the urge I had to lean my tired head against his sturdy shoulder.

I could just make out Rudolphus (my uncle in law, ugh) through one of the upstairs windows.  He didn't seem to be doing anything particularly interesting, so it was going to be a long night.

«Later»

Half of the night had already passed in complete boredom.  The most interesting thing that happened was that I got goosebumps on my goosebumps.

"Are you cold?" Remus asked, looking down at me as I took another swig of hot chocolate and rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm up.  The gap between us had definitely got smaller since the night began and I smiled slightly for no apparent reason, though my blush soon covered it.

"I'm fine." I whispered back, closing my eyes and leaning back against a branch behind me.  Vaguely, I heard Remus sigh, and the next thing I knew, he was wrapping his coat around my shoulders.  I thanked him quickly, my teeth finally stopping their seemingly endless chattering.  His coat was amazingly warm and smelt of him; old parchment, pocket mints and smooth, silky chocolate.  An odd combination, but mixed together the smell was so perfect and flawless to me.

Without even meaning to, I leant back against his shoulder, sighing contentedly.  I blushed so hard that in the light I could've done and pulled away, but Remus just put an arm around me and pulled me back.

"Warm up a bit." He smiled, "Because then I'm having my coat back."