Chapter One

Nymphadora Tonks trudged through the empty graveyard. The sky was just beginning to darken, and her feet crunched heavily in the snow. Her feet were as heavy as her heart tonight as she approached the two headstones located center. The sacrifice of these two warriors was an inspiration to all those still fighting, but it was a different kind of grief that propelled her into the cemetery.

He knew she was there. Of course he did. His senses were attuned to the world around him, always knowing when someone entered or left a room. He knew she was there. Even though she had barely stumbled in her trek through the snow, he knew she was there. But he was ignoring her.

He had ignored her far to often in recent months, exiting rooms when she entered and adverting his eyes from her frequent glances. And it had hurt. So much so that she had lost her ability to morph. As well as any definition she had of herself. All because she loved him.

And he did have feelings for her. She was sure of it, even if he wasn't. Even if he denied it to her and to himself.

"I thought I might find you here." Tonks added her voice to the rustling of the wind and the crunching of the snow.

He didn't turn or even flinch at the sound of her voice. He might have blinked, but she doubted it. His back was against her and his hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his frayed jacket. "You shouldn't be here," he murmured, barely heard above the wind. "It's dangerous."

Despite her sorrow, she couldn't hold back the anger his statement evoked. "Dangerous? Because there's a war on? Because the most dangerous dark wizard alive is trying his best to kill us? Do you think I don't know that? I'm an Auror! I know what danger is, and I can take care of myself."

Now he turned, his face looking as depressed as she felt. His features were stressed and his face lined. The falling snow dusted his already greying hair with white. "That's not what I meant, Tonks."

Her frozen heart thudded dully. In the past, he had taken to calling her Dora. Even when they first met he had refused to call her by the surname she loved, preferring instead to use her hated given name. It had been so long since he had called her Tonks, that she had begun to appreciate the sound of her name on his lips. In his hoarse and gentle voice even her name sounded beautiful. But that was gone now, and he was referring to her as merely a friend. If that. It was another special thing between them that he had decided to reject.

"No, that's not what you meant. You meant you're too dangerous. Or maybe I am. Am I some sort of threat to you, Remus?" He had certainly been avoiding her like the plague, though she didn't think it possible that he could fear her. Tonks didn't think he feared anything, not even You-Know-Who. The only time she had ever seen him truly and visibly afraid was after waking up in St. Mungo's after the battle at the Ministry. She had opened her eyes to find him asleep in the chair next to her, looking as though it was his first rest all month. Even in sleep his features were strained with worry and her hand was clasped tightly in his.

It was the first time she had truly realized what he meant to her, and the first time she had entertained the hope that she might mean something to him as well. But her hopes had been dashed against the rocks of his reality with little prospect of piecing them together again.

"I scare you don't I, Remus? You're scared of what we could, do, have." Remus shut down his facial features before any recognizable emotion could flit across them. He pivoted back to the graves of his long dead friends.

When he refused to answer she began to pace behind him, talking all the while. "You don't want me here, and you can ignore me all you want, but I'm not leaving." She took a small golden trinket from the pocket of her robes and began idly running it's thin chain between her fingers. Playing with it brought a flicker of a smile to her face.

"This was Sirius'." Her voice didn't crack when she said the name of her cousin, but the pain was still there, underlying beneath the fond memories. "It's a time turner of sorts, I guess. I found it in a cupboard in 'Grim-Old' Place." She had hoped that her use of the tag they shared for the house might inspire a smile. Preferably the one that flew all the way up to his eyes making them gleam with laughter and light.

Her efforts were met with silence, decidedly devoid of laughter and light. She sighed internally, but kept talking. "Sirius said I could have it. He didn't want anything from his parent's house. Now it's all I have left of him." Remus did turn to gaze at her, but she didn't notice, so intent was she with the object in her hands. "Doubt it even works. I don't really know how to use it, but I did try. That week after the battle, I tried."

Tonks hurriedly brushed a tear from her eye as she clasped the broken time turner. "But it doesn't work, and I can't turn back time. I can't go back to when Sirius was alive and I can't go back to when you didn't ignore me. I can't even go back to before I loved you. No matter how much I wish I could."

Remus had turned fully to face her now. He moved as though to reach out to her, but stopped the motion halfway through, burrowing his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. "Dora, Tonks," he amended. "I'm sorry. But I've told you why it could never work between us."

She looked up to glare at him and finding his attention focused on her. Even if it was only for the fight she knew would come, his eyes on her caused her wounded heart to lift fractionally. "I know why you think it wouldn't, but it doesn't matter! None of it matters!"

Tonks resumed her pacing, losing sight of the rock she had been carefully avoiding until now. The toe of her boot caught and sent her sprawling. The ground was cold and uninviting, and she braced herself for the impact. But in the next instant his arms were around her and she never touched the ground.

Tonks gazed upwards to stare into his chocolate eyes mere inches from her own. How she had dreamed of being in his arms in the last few months, months of distance and silence. A gentle smile flitted across his face, passing briefly through his eyes on its journey. Her heart seized in her chest, and her gaze moved to his lips which were closer even than his eyes.

In an impulsive action she brought her lips to meet his. He was unresponsive, but only for a heartbeat. His kiss was as sweet and gentle as he was, filling her with undeniable joy and hope.

It was over all too soon. The sharp crack of metal against stone recalled them to the present. Remus broke their kiss and thrust his hands back into their seemingly permanent home in his pockets. He looked angrily away, a sure sign that he had enjoyed the kiss as much as she had.

But he was denying it. Tonks suppressed a groan, and Auror senses kicking in, began to investigate the sound that had awakened them to the world. Remus had restored her balance and then proceeded to take it away with his kiss. Her head was still reeling and her long dead heart seemed to beat with new life.

Even in the dimming light, Tonks caught the glimpse of gold reflected off the snow. Sirius' time turner. She had forgotten she held it. Admittedly, she had forgotten a number of things in those few blissful seconds. The golden trinket had fallen from her grasp onto the rock that had caused her descent. On closer inspection, she found the time travel device to be cracked through the hour glass.

One of her last remembrances of Sirius smashed on the rock at her feet. Tonks silently collected the pieces of the destroyed gadget. She carefully placed them in her pocket and stood to look at Remus.

He stood staring out into the graveyard, avoiding her eyes as he scanned his surroundings. "Tonks," he began, making sure to use her surname. "Does something look different to you?"

Look different? She certainly felt different. That kiss had temporarily stalled her brain, or perhaps this was a permanent effect of feeling loved by Remus. She couldn't say she was opposed.

But now that he mentioned it, the cemetery did look somewhat different. The snow was still blowing around them, and for a moment she thought it was all a trick of the cold winter evening. The grave markers of James and Lily Potter were still directly in front of them, but off to the side was a third headstone that Tonks was sure had not been there before.

Remus stepped forward cautiously, senses on high alert. As he drew close to the unknown stone, Tonks heard a sharp intake of breath. She was at his side in an instant, and it took her only a minute longer to grasp the reasons for his response. Written on the headstone was the name and birth and death dates of Sirius Orion Black.