A Proper Proposition

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APP3

Author\'s Note:  Last chance-do not proceed unless you have read
OOTP or are not afraid of reading a major spoiler.

Once again, kudos to my editor, lablanche, for her suggestions and
inspirations.



Chapter 3:  Reunion and Remembrance

With a sigh, Tonks wearily threw down her silverware and pushed the
food tray away.  She had been feeling so much better today, truly
hungry for the first time since her arrival at St. Mungo\'s, and happily
anticipating the meal.  After all, the menu had promised
\'Succulent Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables\'.
 In reality, the meat had been tough and tasteless, the potatoes
and the gravy both oversalted, and the pea and carrot mixture
overcooked to the point of blandness.  At least the dessert, a
bowl of Fortescue\'s vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberry sauce had
been excellent.  She had ended up licking the bowl clean before
returning half-heartedly to the main course and managing to force down
a few more forkfuls of food.

Closing her eyes, she picked up her mug and finished off the
last of the herbal tea, savoring both the taste and smell of the
liquid.  Placing the cup back down upon the tray, she frowned and
cursed the fact that they still weren\'t allowing her to have her wand,
proclaiming that until she was mended completely, any attempt to
perform magic could be injurious to her health. Really, did they truly
believe that conjuring up another cup of tea would send her into a
relapse?

Murmuring an oath under her breath, she lay back upon her pillow and
tiredly drew her hands through her hair.  She was strictly 
forbidden, of course, to use her powers to alter her appearance in any
manner.  So here she was, stuck as she appeared upon awakening
from unconsciousness.  Her hair was an absolute diaster with about
half of it tinted a vivid purple, another fourth tinged green and the
remainder of the strands revealing her natural and detested shade of
dark brown
hair.

\"Done with your dinner, dear?\"

Tonks turned to her left to look at the elderly witch who had appeared
in the doorway.  The volunteer was a friendly old thing, widow of
a Healer who had worked at the hospital for a very long time, and she
was studying the tray with a bemused expression.

\"They do manage to ruin the best of meals, don\'t they?\" she clucked,
putting her hands to her hips and wrinkling her nose in disgust.
 \"It\'s rather against the rules,\" she whispered, glancing behind
her, \"But
perhaps I could charm it into something else,\" she offered, drawing
her wand out of the front pocket of her crisply ironed apron.

\"Well,\" said Tonks, giggling softly, \"Could you at least get
me some more of the ice cream?  That part, at least, was
excellent.\"

\"Without finishing your main course?\" replied the woman in a
shocked voice.

Tonks stared up at the woman with her mouth agape for a moment before
she detected the gleam of amusement in the old woman\'s eyes.
 

\"Although-\" she continued, waving her wand over the plate.
 Immediately, the remnants of the dinner faded away, with only a
few discreet traces left upon dish.  \"It looks as though you
managed to polish it off after all!\"  With another wave of her
wand, ice cream and sauce reappeared in the bowl.

\"Oh, thanks!\" exclaimed Tonks, as she reached out to pick up
the dish and her spoon.  With her mouth filled with ice cream,
she managed to mumble, \"Could I have more tea too?\"

The woman smiled and tapped her wand upon the rim of the mug, instantly
filling it with more of the delicious tea.  With a satisfied
smile, she sat down in one of the chairs and watched the young witch
enthusiastically finish off her second helping of dessert.

\"You\'re looking so much better, dear,\" she said, nodding in approval.
 \"I hear you even had a fair number of visitors today?\"

\"Oh, yeah,\" Tonks replied, pausing to take another large swallow of the
tea. \"A whole gaggle of Weasleys,\" she giggled, wiping her mouth with
the back of her hand.  \"And they brought me a bunch of stuff,\" she
said, gesturing toward the small table that sat  underneath
the window.

\"That\'s a beautiful bouquet,\" said the witch, rising to her feet and
moving over to the table to inspect it more closely.

\"Uh-huh, that was from the whole family,\" explained Tonks.  \"And
Molly brought me a bunch of books and magazines, and Bill dropped off
some crossword puzzles he\'s been saving up from The Daily Prophet.\"

\"But what\'s this?\" asked the woman, frowning at a stack of paper near
the back.

\"Oh, Arthur left that,\" she smiled, \"With lots of apologies,
actually.  There\'s a ton of paperwork that we are all going to
have to fill out for the Ministry, of course.  But he said there
was no hurry in getting it back to him.\"

\"Hmm,\" the witch replied, bending down to sniff suspiciously
at a large sack sitting upon the edge.  \"And this?\"

\"Well,\" laughed Tonks, setting down her spoon.  \"The twins snuck
back after everyone else had gone and gave me that.  They swear
it\'s candy from Honeydukes.\"

\"I see,\" said the old woman, delicately picking it up between her thumb
and forefinger.  \"Shall I dispose of this promptly?\"

\"Yes, please,\" she answered, giggling again.  After a moment, she
had to stop, and held her hand protectively against her still bruised
and aching ribs, \"I wouldn\'t dare eat a piece of it or offer it to
anyone else,\" she admitted.  \"I see you are acquainted with them?\"

\"Yes, a lovely family,\" the volunteer replied, managing to wedge the
bag into another pocket of her apron.  \"They were so distraught
when Arthur was brought here around Christmas time,\" she said, shaking
her head.  \"But once he started to feel better, I could tell that
those twins were a real handful.\"  She paused and studied Tonks
for a moment.  \"It looks as though you\'re just about ready to nod
off.\"

\"Yeah,\" she said, with a yawn.  She had been feeling stronger but
rather bored before the Weasley family\'s visit.  They had
raised her spirits immeasurably, but Molly had seen that she was tiring
quickly.  It had taken her several attempts to finally herd the
large group out of the room, only to have the twins return with the
bag of sweets, refusing to leave until the patient had accepted it.
When
Molly had reappeared in the doorway, Tonks had obligingly hidden the
sack
underneath the covers.  Mrs. Weasley, thoroughly disgusted with
her
sons, had launched into a tongue lashing that only ended when Arthur
intervened.
 By the time they had filed out of the door again, her head had
begun
to ache and she had been quite happy to see the nurse come in with
another
dose of her healing potions.  

\"If you\'re done with this, then?\" the witch asked, pointing at her tray.

Tonks nodded her assent.  She had managed to finish off
the ice cream and half of the tea, but she was feeling quite stuffed
now.  With a smile, the volunteer raised her wand and murmured
another spell, and the tray rose into the air.  

\"I\'ll tell the nurse, and I\'m sure she\'ll be round with your
next dose,\" she said cheerily, guiding the tray in front of her as she
turned to leave the room.  \"Get a good night\'s sleep, dear.\"

\"I will,\" she promised.  

The nurse, as promised, reappeared promptly and after a thorough check
of her injuries and a few questions regarding how she was feeling,
poured out another generous dose of potion.  Tonks drank down
the bitter concoction as rapidly as she could and then settled down
in a half-reclining position against the pile of pillows.  She
found
herself staring out the window, watching as evening settled over the
city,
her thoughts disjointed and rambling as a dreamy trance fell over her.

With a jolt, she suddenly jerked her head upward, not quite sure what
had awakened her from her slumber.  A quick glance out of
the window confirmed that night had indeed fallen and then her gaze
drifted toward the table.  Blinking her eyes in surprise, she
slowly
managed to sit up and leaned forward to get a better look.  The
table
had been moved away from the wall and was now standing right next to
the
bed.  The Weasley\'s flowers and other gifts had been shifted to
the
windowsill and in their place was a tall and elegant silver vase
containing
a small bouquet.  But the flowers were large and exquisitely
shaped
and as she leaned over down and appreciatively sniffed the fragrant
perfume,
she marveled at the vivid contrast between the dark and light blooms of
the arrangement.

Reaching out her hand, she allowed her fingertips to trace the outline
of the delicate petals.  \"Gorgeous,\" she whispered.  \"I knew
there were white roses, but I\'ve never seen black ones before.\"

\"Alas,\" came a deep voice from her left.  \"Although they are
called \'Black Baccara\' the name is rather deceptive.  Lumos!\"

As light filled the room she turned her head to see Snape arise from
the chair on the other side of the bed and glide over to the table.
 \"Unfortunately,\" he said, frowning down at the vase, \"As you can
see, they are not a true shade of ebony, merely a deep burgundy,
particularly around the edges.\"

He bent down to examine them more closely, his dark hair cascading over
his face and obscuring his features until only the tip of his nose was
visible.  Placing this sizeable appendage directly above the
bouquet, he inhaled deeply for a moment.  \"I did consider,\" he
said as he straightened, \"Using magic to enhance the effect, but
decided-\"

\"That you prefer to view things with their natural color,\" she
finished, grinning up at him.

\"Indeed,\" he replied.

\"They are absolutely beautiful, thank you,\" she said, as he paused to
move the table closer to the wall again.  \"Although I can\'t help
but wonder why you didn\'t choose something a little brighter.\"  As
he turned back to regard her with a raised eyebrow, she continued.
 \"Maybe a nice bunch of morning glories,\" she teased.  \"Then
instead of
sniffing my rosebuds you could have buried that big nose of yours right
into the middle of my bright blue posy.\"

\"I was under the impression your posy was no longer blue,\" he
replied dryly.  \"But speaking of such matters,\" he said, tilting
his head to the side and staring at her hair, \"You appear to be even
more colorful than usual.\"

She grimaced and closed her eyes for a moment.  \"Not by choice,
believe it or not,\" she said, opening them again.  \"I\'m not
trusted to do any kind of magic yet, so I\'m stuck like this for now.
 And if you\'re interested, I have an amazing assortment of bruises
in every imaginable color covering my body as well.\"

\"I see,\" he said, a small smirk upon his face.  \"It is a
indeed a comfort to know that even you have more taste than to
deliberately choose such an abominable amalgamation,\" he commented,
stretching out his hand to gently ruffle her hair with his fingers.
Bending down, he brushed his lips briefly against her forehead.
 \"May I?\" he asked, gesturing toward the bed.  When she had
nodded, he lowered himself to sit down beside her.

\"So, how long have you been here?\" she asked.

\"For a while,\" he answered with a shrug.  \"Just long enough to
have become annoyed with your snoring.\"

\"I don\'t snore,\" she replied.  As he raised his eyebrows again,
she stuck out her tongue.  \"And even if I do, you\'re in no
position to talk,\" she noted.  \"I was really surprised that the
Silencing
Spell managed to contain those wall-rattling noises that were emerging
out of your throat that night.  No wonder you sleep in the
dungeons.\"

\"You were the one who demanded I remain in the room to sleep,\" he
huffed.

Tonks shrugged her shoulders and smiled.  \"Anyway, how did
you manage to sneak in here after visiting hours?\" she asked.

\"A kindly old volunteer found me wandering the halls and very happily
escorted me to your ward,\" he replied.  \"She seemed quite pleased
that a \'such a nice young fellow\' was taking the time to visit you,\" he
elaborated in a mocking tone.

\"Well, she is quite old and her eyesight\'s probably not so good,\" said
Tonks, thoughtfully.  \"So don\'t worry about it, I doubt anyone
else would mistake you for a nice young fellow.\"

\"Thank you for setting my mind at ease,\" he retorted.  \"How are
you feeling?\" he asked, a slight frown upon his face as his eyes
ran up and down her body.

\"Fine,\" she answered automatically.

\"I highly doubt that,\" he replied, a plainly skeptical look in his eyes
as he peered at her.

She sighed and corrected herself. \"Well, as fine as you can feel after
you\'ve been hit with the magical equivalent of being run over
by the Hogwarts Express-twice.\"  Shifting slightly in the bed, she
grimaced in pain before adding, \"And, of course, falling over a lot of
stone steps and benches.\"

Snape clucked his tongue.  \"Typical Gryffindor bravado,\"
he said, shaking his head.  \"Rushing into a fight before first
considering the consequences, or at least a more prudent line of
attack.\"

\"It wasn\'t just Gryffindors fighting off those Death Eaters,\"
she reminded him,.

He laughed shortly.  \"Indeed not, and I assure you that Professor
McGonagall has made sure that each and every one of them was amply
rewarded upon her return to Hogwarts today.\"

\"Yes, I\'m sure she did,\" she replied.  \"She was quite anxious to
get back there, you know.  Kept worrying so much about how things
were going that she absolutely refused to stay here a minute longer and
finally demanded that they release her.\"

Snape nodded and looked suddenly somber.  \"I hope you understand
why I did not visit you sooner,\" he said.  \"Whilst Minerva was
still here-\"  He paused and glanced around at the now-empty ward.
 \"It would have been rather awkward to call upon you.\"

\"Oh, I understand,\" she assured him quickly.  \"I\'m glad you came
now.\"

Drawing her feet up, she went to wrap her arms around her upraised
knees.  But as she did so, a sharp and unexpected pang wrenched
through her, starting at her hip and rising rapidly upwards through her
ribcage.  With a small, surprised gasp of breath she quickly
lowered her legs and moved to lie back down.  

Snape was already on his feet and bending over her, his left arm
plumping pillows behind her as he attempted, with his right arm clasped
gently around her, to ease her as painlessly as possible back onto the
cushion.

\"Shall I call the nurse?\" he asked, looking quite concerned.

\"No,\" she answered quickly, shaking her head.  \"I\'m fine, really.\"
 

Snape continued to stare down at her worriedly.  To Tonks\'
delight, his arm was still wrapped protectively around her.

\"My body just keeps reminding me that there are certain postions it
would rather not be in right now,\" she added.  

He looked quite unconvinced but slowly, to Tonks\' disappointment,
released his hold and straightened up to full height.

She patted the cover beside her invitingly.  \"You can sit down
again,\" she said.

He frowned down at her dubiously.

\"Don\'t worry, if it hurts, I\'ll let you know,\" she assured him.
 \"I may be brave in the face of death but believe me, when it
comes to pain, I never suffer silently,\" she declared, holding out her
hand.  

Snape rather reluctantly settled down upon the bed again, his sharp
eyes watching her face as she did so, looking for any trace of
discomfort on her features.  Seeing that she appeared to be
comfortable again, he reached out and allowed her to place her hand
within his.  But the frown line between his eyes deepened as he
pushed aside the sleeve of her gown and
began to examine her forearm.

\"You truly are a mass of contusions,\" he noted.  \"I take it I was
expecting too much when I asked you to refrain from falling down a
flight of stairs?\" he asked in a voice that was both affectionate and
reprimanding.

\"Well, I had more than a little help from my dear Aunt Bellatrix when
it came to taking that particular plunge,\" she replied.

\"Ah, yes, such a touching family reunion,\" he whispered.

He reluctantly drew his hands away and crossed his arms over his chest.
 Clearing his throat, he stared down at the tip of his boots for
several seconds, his forehead wrinkled in a frown.  \"I also want
to say,\" he said slowly, in a low and careful tone.  He paused
again, his lips moving silently as he appeared to clench his teeth,
\"That for your sake-\"  His voice had dipped into a growl
now.  

Uncrossing his arms, she watched in fascination as he dropped his hands
to the side, his fingers tightened angrily around the folds of
bedcovers.  \"I am sorry about-\"  His voice was now so low as
to be almost
inaudible and for a brief moment she saw him grit his teeth again.
 \"Your cousin\'s death.\"

She dropped her eyes as well, biting her lips as the memory of Sirius
brought tears to her eyes.  She realized that Snape had struggled
mightily, trying and failing to bring himself to pronounce the wizard\'s
name.  She harbored no illusions regarding the depth of their
hatred for
one another, but on the other hand she had allowed herself to hope that
Snape
had never truly wished for Sirius\' death.  But it would have been
incredibly naive to suppose that he had been upset by the news.

\"Thank you,\" she said,  \"Although I think Harry is the one who is
really going to be missing him.\"

She ventured a glance at Snape\'s face and saw that it was determinedly
blank.

She inwardly cursed herself for steering the already uncomfortable
subject into an even more precarious area. But to her distress, she
found her mouth widening into a large, undeniable yawn as she racked
her brains trying to think of a new subject.

\"It appears that you need your rest,\" he said softly, rising to his
feet.  

\"Oh, no!\" she cried, her disappointment at his departure painfully
clear.  \"Please don\'t go yet.\"

He shook his head firmly.  \"I need to return to Hogwarts,\" he
explained.  \"But, if there is anything I can do for you-\"  He
paused and held his hands out to the side.

\"Well, there is one thing,\" she said, frowning slightly as her hands
tightened over her knees.

\"Yes?\" he inquired, politely.

\"I\'m supposed to be released in about three days-four or five
at the most,\" she said.

He nodded and clasped his hands in front of him, waiting for her to
continue.

\"So-\"  She hesitated and studied the top of her quilt for a
moment, gathering her courage.  Taking in a deep breath, she
raised her eyes to meet his gaze again.  \"The Leaky Cauldron, Room
twelve, Saturday night?\" she asked, hopefully.

He started to chuckle, softly at first and then he threw his head back
and allowed the laughter to flow loudly and freely.  \"I see,\" he
said, lowering his head to grin at her.  \"Are you certain you
will be well enough to enjoy my company by that time?\"

\"Oh, I\'m sure of it,\" she answered, returning his smile.  \"After
all they are advising me to stay in bed for awhile,\" she added, with
a wicked gleam in her eye.  \"But they didn\'t say I had to be
alone.\"

\"And under what guise will be you visiting the establishment this
time?\" he asked, quirking his eyebrow.

\"I haven\'t quite decided yet,\" she admitted with a laugh.   

\"Well then, perhaps the challenge will be for you to recognize me
this time,\" he remarked.

\"Since when are you a Metamorphmagus?\" she asked.

\"My dear Miss Tonks,\" he answered, taking on his most patronizing tone
of voice, \"I am a Potions Master after all.  Do not doubt
that I always keep a supply of Polyjuice and suitable material on hand
to effect a transformation.  As a matter of fact,\" he continued,
crossing his arms over his chest, \"I was traveling incognito
this very day.\"

\"Really?\" she asked, finding her curiosity piqued.  \"Why?\"

\"Let us just say that I was performing a little errand that could have
been potentially embarrassing,\" he replied, enigmatically. \"So,
we are agreed to another assignation then?  What time on Saturday
night?\"

\"Eight o\'clock?\"

He nodded.  \"Shall we meet in the room?\" he asked.  \"By the
way,  I shall be paying for the lodging this time,\" he assured her.

\"Very gallant of you,\" she retorted, with a smile.  \"Okay, see you
in Room Twelve then.  Me with my bandages and bruises and possibly
a new appearance and you with your potion and locks of hair.
 Or are you using toenail clippings?\"

\"As ever, the sophistication of your humor is overwhelming,\" he said,
sweeping toward the door.  \"Is there anything else I should
bring?\" he asked, turning back as he reached the doorway.

\"How about your broomstick?\" she joked.  \"I mean the other one,\"
she added, helpfully.

\"Oh, I hardly think that would be wise,\" he replied, after appearing to
give the matter serious thought.  \"I daresay that, after I am
through with you, you will be much too sore to indulge in a bit of
riding.\"

She giggled. \"Is that before or after you\'ve been doing a bit
of mounting yourself?\"

He seemed to ignore this remark and turned his attention to the wall
lamp.  \"Nox!\" he whispered, plunging the room into
darkness again.  She could now see only his shadowy form
silhouetted
against the hazy light of the hallway.  \"You do realize, Tonks,\"
he said, very quietly, \"That I shall be absolutely sober this time?\"

\"Is that a promise or a threat?\" she asked.

\"Both,\" he assured her.  Although his face was obscured by the
gloom, she had no doubt he was smirking again.  \"Until Saturday.\"
He dipped his head in a quick, sardonic bow and then turned and
disappeared noiselessly down the hallway.

With a small sigh, she settled back down upon the bed and lifted her
arms above her head, ignoring the protestations of her aching body.
 There was no way she was going to miss this date, even if she had
to tie the bedsheets together and climb out the window, she thought.
 After staring up at the ceiling for several minutes, she threw
the covers down and carefully raised herself up into a sitting
position, lowering her
legs over the side.  With a bit of effort, she managed to stretch
out her fingers and pull the table toward her again.  

Picking up the vase, she brought it to her nose and inhaled the sweet
fragrance of the beautiful flowers once more.  As she was
setting the container back down, she suddenly noticed that a small box
had been hidden behind the urn. With a confused frown, she picked it up
and turned it over in her hands.  It was covered with velvet, and
her heart began to pound in a most alarming manner as she suddenly
realized
that it was a jewelry box.  Not only that, it seemed to be the
perfect
size for-

Allowing the box to tumble back onto the table as she wrapped
her arms across her chest and began to rock back and forth gently. Oh,
no, it couldn\'t be she assured herself.  After all, she had only
spent one night with the man and then, other than an chance, occasional
meeting at Grimmauld  Place, where he had paid her no especial
notice,
they hadn\'t spoken again until this evening.  Why on earth would
he be giving her a ring?

Holding her breath, she reached out for the box and with very
shaky fingers forced the lid open.  At first she was certain that
her suspicions had been justified, but as she went to raise the piece
of jewelry from the holder she suddenly realized that it was not a ring
at all.  For a moment she stared down at it, perplexed and
mystified,
turning the small bauble over and over in the palm of her hand.
 Then,
finally recognizing what it was, she laughed with delight.
 Excitedly
hitching up the front of her gown, she carefully placed the ornament
within
the soft niche of her navel.

It fit perfectly, of course, for it was the exact size and shape of the
cufflink that she had briefly stolen from Snape.  It was not
identical, however, for this bauble was not wrought out of platinum and
emeralds.  Instead, a brilliant, blood-red ruby was set within a
circlet of gold.  She laughed again as her fingers played across
her
stomach, dancing lightly across the coolness of the stone and the
warmth
of her skin.

No wonder he had been in disguise this afternoon.  He would sooner
die than be seen purchasing jewelry fashioned in Gryffindor colors.

 

The End (For now)



Sorry if some readers are disappointed in the lack of sexual activity
in this chapter, but I thought it best to leave their relationship, for
now, upon a friendlier level.  Yes, this story really does beg for
a sequel does it not?  But I won\'t promise how quickly I will get
to it.