Stress Relief

A/N: Right, another update. So sorry it’s been a while again, but it’s here now! Big thanks and hugs to mgrantwich for the help again!

Enjoy….

Tonks crept upstairs, hoping that the rest of the Black House was still in bed. She had hoped to return before dawn, but the thought of a lazy morning shag with Severus had been much more appealing, so here she was, cursing the creaking stairs, at 10 am. She’d mis-apparated, thankfully only by a couple of floors, instead finding herself in the downstairs hall, thanking her lucky stars that she hadn’t woken Sirius’ mother.
“Where’ve you been?”
Tonks jumped at the voice, slipped on the stairs and crashed down two or three before grasping the handrail. She checked over her shoulder and sighed. Slowly she pulled her self around so that she could face Sirius. In fact, she thought, sitting down halfway up the stairs, this gives me significant height that I can loom over him for once! A fleeting thought that said ‘that sounded much more like Severus than her self’ fluttered through her mind, making Tonks giggle.
“Well?” Sirius inquired. Tonks wasn’t too sure what to make of his tone, though the absence of the usually sly grin was a little unnerving.
“I had some business to attend to,” Tonks replied evasively, knowing in all reality that would not deter Sirius for a moment. The man was like his animagus with a bone sometimes.
“At Hogwarts, I presume?” Now there was definitely a nasty clip to those words that Tonks couldn’t mistake.
“Yeah,” she said with a cheeky smile. “How’d you know?”
“Perhaps it’s just a lucky guess,” Sirius shrugged. Then his face turned into a nasty sneer “Or maybe it’s the fact that you absolutely wreak of bodily fluids I’d rather not discuss.”
A slight flush came over Tonks face, wishing she’d taken a moment to perform a cleansing spell.
“Oh, well, comes with the job,” Tonks shrugged, a smile playing on her lips.
“Is that what this is, Tonks? Come on, it’s Snape – the world expects him to be a nasty cunt, you really don’t need to try and change him,” Sirius sighed, running a hand through his long, dark hair. “And frankly, you’re not doing a particularly good job…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tonks stood up defensively.
“It means that he’s just as much of a bastard as he always was.”
“To you, you mean,” Tonks retorted. “Can’t say I blame him.”
“Look, Tonks, I’m just saying, be careful. Just keep in mind that you hardly know the git.”
“Oh? And I suppose you know him better?!” Though Tonks tried to keep her voice down, in fear of waking the others, she was getting agitated. This continuous spiel about Severus was getting on her nerves. This hadn’t been the first time Sirius had confronted her, and she doubted in would be the last.
“Yes. I went to school with him…”
“That was twenty odd years ago now! People grow up, Sirius.” She shot her cousin a condescending look. “Well, at least some of them do!”
“He’s a Death Eater…”
“Yeah, and you’re a murderer, remember?”
Sirius’ eyes narrowed. “I was framed – no one framed Snape. He joined of his own free will…”
“Whatever, Sirius.” Tonks turned to walk up the stairs.
“You know he doesn’t give a damn about you, don’t you?” Sirius spat at her.
“Sure, sure,” she muttered. Sirius was taken aback by her casual dismissal.
“Does he take you out anywhere? Dhe ghe give you flowers?”
“Padfoot, quit it,” Lupin’s form emerged from around the doorframe to the lounge, his slow entrance hinting that he had been listening for some time.
“What did he do this morning? Had a good fuck, I’d bet, then sent you on your way. Probably promised to come and see you as soon as he could, right? Bet he didn’t forget to give you a contraceptive potion, did he?”
Tonks hands balled into fists, anger staining her face the same colour as her hair.
“Whatever, Sirius. What precisely are you trying to do here? Frankly, I’m bored with this whole thing –so for Merlin’s sake, spit it out. is is your problem? What business of yours is it what or who I’m doing?” Tonks growled frustrated. “You jealous or something?” Though she said the words as a joke, Sirius’ reaction disturbed her.
Too quickly heppedpped “No!”
Tonks looked from Sirius to Lupin, who was standing behind his friend. Lupin glanced at the back of his friend’s head, before slowly nodding.
“Oh, gross!” Tonks exclaimed, shaking her hands as if trying to get something filthy from them. Her nose wrinkled like there was a bad smell in the hall. “That is wrong on so many levels, Sirius!”
Sirius glared at Lupin, who shrugged at him. “I warned you, Sirius, and you wouldn’t leave it alone…”
Sirius flicked his head back to face Tonks. “Nymphadora, come on. Plenty of the Black Family married relatives…We’re only second cousins…”
“So? Doesn’t make it any less disgusting!” Tonks yelled at him, her hands on her hips. A shiver ran up her spine as she realized how her cousin had been looking at her, and she suddenly felt like she was standing there naked. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest. “And don’t you dare call me Nymphadora!”
“What on earth is going on down there?!” Molly Weasley yelled from somewhere upstairs.
The moth eaten curtains in the hall flew open with such a force a draft could be felt through out the hall.
“TRAITORS! FILTH! SCUM!”
“Tonks, please…” Sirius all but begged over the top of his mother’s screams.
“I am going upstairs to take a shower. I suggest for your own sake, Sirius, and the sake of parts of your anatomy you’d rather keep, that nevenever, ever even have an indecent thought about me again!”
Tonks stomped up the stairs, barely avoiding Molly Weasley as she came flying around the corner on her way to sedate Mrs Black.

The days crept past, and Tonks avoided her cousin as much as possible, taking extra shifts at work and as lookouts for the Order. Though members of the Order would pop by occasionally, it was two weeks before she got to see Snape again. Dumbledore had called a meeting of the entire order to discuss the matter of Professor Umbridge, and Tonks sat at the kitchen table, trying very hard to concentrate as the meeting began, but her mind was too occupied with the fact that Snape had not yet arrived. She began to worry – Dumbledore had said this was a meeting for the whole Order, yet Snape was the only one not there (other than Charlie Weasley, but he was off in Romania). Tonks fidgeted in her seat, trying to catch McGonagall’s eye. Yet, no matter have many times she looked at the older witch sitting next to her, Minerva appeared not to notice. Tonks become unsure as to whether she even knew about Tonks and Snape. Sirius kept throwing her ‘I told you so’ looks from across the room, making Tonks even more agitated. However, not for the reasons Sirius would’ve liked her to haeen een – Tonks was worried something had happened to Snape – he was still attending Death Eater meetings. Maybe they’d discovered he was a spy, maybe…
After dropping her wand, which she was fiddling with in her hands, to the floor for the fourth time, McGonagall retrieved it from the ground and whispered harshly in Tonks ear, “Oh, for goodness sakes, Nymphadora, he’ll be here soon!”
“Sorry,” Tonks apologized, but inside she felt elated. She couldn’t help but give Sirius a smug look, even though she knew it was dropping to his childish level. Finally Tonks managed to concentrate on the meeting.

Snape arrived about half an hour later, but Tonks figured it didn’t matter too much – he must already know all about that terrible Umbridge woman. Snape stood by the door, leaning against its frame, obviously not wanting to disrupt what Dumbledore was saying on account of his late arrival. Tonks smiled at him, and he acknowledged her with a nod.
“Do you two bloody mind?!” Sirius snapped, cutting Dumbledore oid-sid-sentence. Everyone’s faces turned towards Sirius, and then to Snape. Molly let out a groan.
“Sirius…” Lupin’s tone was brisk with warning.
“No, I will not sit here while those two give each other goo-goo eyes across the room! There are much more important matters at hand here and…”
“Shut up, Sirius,” Tonks snapped, glaring at him.
Dumbledore gave Sirius an odd look, and began to talk again “As I was saying, Umbridge is…”
“I will not shut up! I have had it up to here with the two of you, and your total disregard for the Order!”
“That’s enough, Sirius,” Dumbledore said, his tone not one to be messed with.
Sirius ranted on at Snape, oblivious to the glares he was receiving from the rest of the room. “You wander in here an hour late, no bloody apology, and then you don’t even pay attention to what is going on!” Sirius growled, gng tng to his feet.
Snape gave Sirius a bored look, and turned his attention back to Dumbledore.
“Severus had a Death Eaters meeting to attend, Sirius,” Dumbledore spoke slowly. Much of the room shifted uncomfortably in their seats at the thought. “Now, as I was saying...”
“Yeah, yeah, Snape’s the fucking hero, trust me, we all know,” Sirius spat, then turned back to scowl at Snape. “Tell your little girlfriend what you get up to at those meetings?”
Snape visibly paled, but his eyes remained on Dumbledore. Tonks brow furrowed in concern.
“I think Tonks has a right to know how many Muggle women you’ve had sent your way this week,” Sirius went on like a steam train without any brakes. “Hm?”
“Forgive me, Headmaster,” Snape growled, pulling his wand from his robes and pointing it at Sirius. “I think we’ve all had quite enough of that utter nonsense! Silencio!” With a flick of his wand the enraged wizard fell silent.
Sirius had drawn his own wand, but now looked uselessly at the stick in his hand. Tonks breathed a heavy sigh of relief and settled herself back in her chair. The calm was short lived however: Sirius had turned himself into Padfoot. The large black dog crouched on on his haunches, and propelled himself at Snape, teeth bared. Snape lifted his wand again, but before he could cast a spell, Dumbledore roared “Petrificus Totalus!”
The black dog’s body stiffened mid-flight and crashed to the ground with a tremendous thud.
“Meeting adjourned,” Dumbledore said, his mouth set in a firm line. The crowd in the kitchen looked at each other, before hastily making their retreat. Tonks attempted to slip out the door, hoping Dumbledore wouldn’t notice.
“Except you two,” Dumbledore said sternly, indicating Tonks and Snape. He then looked down at Padfoot. “And him too, but I suppose he’s not going anywhere for the moment.”
“Headmaster, this is absolutely ridiculous,” Snape drawled. “Black and his pathetic antics are interfering with matters of the Order. I demand you take some action!”
“That is quite enough, Severus. You are going to have to learn to tolerate Sirius. He has been caged up here for months now, and though his actions aren’t excusable, I do believe that perhaps a little understanding is in order?” Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Snape, who scowled back.
“But …”
“No buts, Severus. Ignore him. I shall be having words with him too. I will not have another meeting disrupted by this childish nnse nse – do I make myself clear?”
Snape went to protest, but the look on Dumbledore’s face deterred him. “Yes, Sir.”
“Nymphadora?” Dumbledore asked, turning to Tonks.
“Please, Albus, this was not Severus’ doing. Sirius has been…”
“I know, but you understand that I do not wish to have a repeat of this shenanigan?”
“Yeah,” Tonks sighed in agreement.
“All right, you may go.”
Tonks gave the black dog a nasty look and seriously considered accidentally kicking him as she stepped over his stiff body. Dumbledore coughed loudly and Tonks thought better of it. She sighed, and slipped out the door behind Snape.
“Stupid git,” Snape muttered as they headed into the entrance hall.
Tonks remained silent, wondering about what Sirius had accused Snape of. She headed for the stairs, not really knowing what to say.
“Tonks?” Snape called after her, a knot tightening in his stomach.
She turned back to him. “I think we need to talk.”

They entered her bedroom, and Tonks sat down on her bed as Snape closed the door behind him. He turned and watched her for a moment, an awkward silence filling the room.
“Tonks?” Snape finally spoke, breaking the silence.
Tonks sighed. “What does go on in those meetings, Severus?”
Snape looked at the floor, then back at Tonks. “You do not wish to know. However, I can assure you, that I have been nothing but faithful to you.”
“What about before me, Sev? What happened then?”
Snape’s upper lip ed ied in disgust. “I am not proud of some of the things I’ve done, Tonks, but I am trying to make amends for them. And I realize nothing I do will take back the horrors I have been a part of, but I am trying. Please, don’t ask anymore questions, you do not wish to know the answers.”
Tonks looked at him for a few moments, taking in his posture, slumped in defeat. His eyes begged her not to continue, some of the horrors he had witnessed were reflected there.
“All right, Severus,” she said softly.
“Thank you.”
Tonks got to her feet, feeling the need to comfort Snape. It was odd seeing him in this state, so far from the surly Potions Master she would hardly have recognized him as such. She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him for a few minutes. Snape felt the heavy burden lift from his shoulders, his world filling once again with Tonks, all the terrors pushed to one side for the time being. He desperately needed her, to feel her writhing beneath him, to keep those dark thoughts at bay just for a while longer. He bent and captured her mouth with his own, hungry desire taking over, his kiss becoming bruising against her lips. Tonks sighed contentedly, allowing him to lift her from the ground and place her back on her bed. He pinned her down with his own body, his lips moving from her mouth to her neck, taking nips at her salty skin. Tonks groaned loudly, and Snape bucked against her, his already prominent erection pressing hard against her thigh.
“I need you,” he begged against her skin, pressing his hips into her again. Tonks moaned, the sound causing her skin to vibrate beneath his lips.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Snape growled, whipping out his wand and making quick work of their clothes. Tonks could feel his hardness now pressed skin to skin with her thigh, the heat emanating from the two of them almost unbearable. He shifted, aligning himself within her wet folds, barely holding back the urge to plunge inside and wash away all the terrible memories. He caught her eye and she simply nodded. Without further hesitation Snape shoved forward, filling her with one swift move. Tonks gasped at the sudden intrusion. Though it had only been a couple of weeks since their last tryst, she felt tighter than ever around him, the fullness sensational.
“Severus!” she gasped, her head tilting back in ecstasy. Snape took the opportunity to nip at the bare skin of her neck as he drew out of her and plunged back in. Tonks revealed in the delicious friction, gasping as he hit her cervix, sending a wave of wetness from her core. She could feel the little tingles building through out her body, orgasm fast approaching. Grasping hold of the mattress below him for a little more leverage, Snape picked up his pace, feeling Tonks writhing beneath him. He lifted his head to watch her.
“So beautiful,” he muttered, as her eyes slipped closed. Tonks’ body convulsed beneath him, around him, and Snape bit his lip, refusing to give in to the urge to follow her. His continued movements drew her orgasm out, she squirmed beneath him to the point where he had to hold her hips still with his hands. Snape so desperately wanted to let go, but at the same time he never wanted this to end. She slowly came down, her eyes reopening. “Oh, wow,” she muttered with a grin. Snape chuckled in return, his pace slowed, trying to control his desire.
“Your turn,” Tonks informed him, with an evil smile. She reached down between them, and began to gently stroke the sensitive flesh below his erection. Snape let out a gasp, and attempted to brush her hand off, but it was too late.
“Tonks!” he moaned softly, as the intoxicating strokes claimed him. With an animalistic growl he spilled into her.

And my thanks to:
Mgrantwich for helping me out with the plot again! You really are wonderful!

Jaelyss – Tasty, huh? Napkins on standby. Glad you enjoyed it!
Amethyst – here you go! And thanks for joining my group
Gx-Silver – thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Aprilgrey – Glad you found your way back – cheers
Alana –Trust me – the writers block is still there, but it’s slowly lifting (thank goodness!) Studying is driving me crazy at the moment, but I’ll try and find time to write more soon! Thanks for all the wonderful comments.