Both Remus and Tonks were hiding in a field of corn. They were spying on a death eater to see if he did anything suspicious that would help The Order in any way shape or form. Nothing so far happened that was worth mentioning to The Order. No one had left the house or even enter the house in the hours they had been spying.This death eater wasn’t very close to the Dark Lord, but Dumbledore insisted that the two would spy on him just in case Voldemort did pay a visit or any other death eater that was high in ranks.
It was a mildly warm night, Remus was thankful for that. It would have been horrid if it was freezing cold and they had to spy for hours and hours freezing. There was a small breeze but it was more than warm. It was already nightfall, Remus guessed it was around eleven or midnight.Deep down Remus was scared that someone would notice them spying, but they were hidden deep in the cornfield. So no one could even see them unless they physically tried to find them.Remus was using omnioculars so he could view the death eater, the omnioculars gave him just a close image it seemed like he was right beside the house itself. Every so often he would give than to Tonks so she could observe, then she would give them back to him. So far the two had very little conversation, they both were concentration on the house. For the past year Tonks and Remus developed a close friendship, they had been already on a few missions before so they both knew each other very well. But Remus was in love with Tonks, every time Dumbledore assigned them together his heart would ring out in joy. He loved spending every second with Tonks. Even in silence, he felt so comfortable, so calm around her. At this point in their friendship they told each other everything, Remus knew everything about Tonks and vise versa.
All Remus could hear was Tonks breathing, it was slow and steady. He knew she was concentrating, ready for anything. Him and Tonks mostly always talked, they were never quite. The odd time they were paired together would be a good day for both of them. They would catch up on their missions and just laugh the whole time. The last time they were paired together would have been two or three weeks ago on a one night mission. There wasn’t that much to catch up on, the biggest thing that happened to Remus was a full moon. But he didn’t know if anything big happened to Tonks. Some days he worried she would tell him she was in a relationship, or he would learn she fell in love with a young wizard. Remus always feared for that day, he loved Tonks. But he could never admit to that love. Tonks deserved better… Better than him.
“Once again, we are sent on another mission on where we do nothing.” Tonks quietly whispered. It was true, it seemed whenever they were paired together nothing eventful happened that was worth mentioning to the order.
“That is true, but it’s always fun. You and I do make a good team.” Remus replied Tonks gave him a smile then looked back at the Death Eaters house.
“Nothing at all is happening, I sometimes wonder Dumbledore's sanity. He sends us on the most boring missions.” Tonks complained, still looking at the death eaters house. Tonks did have a point, but he loved having missions where they didn’t do anything but talk. He loved spending every second with Tonks. They stayed silent for another ten minutes. Remus couldn’t help but stare at Tonks. He always found himself stare at Tonks when she wasn’t looking at him. She was just too beautiful.
“How have your past few weeks been?” Remus questioned Tonks.
“Not much has happened, just normal auror stuff. They mostly have me do assignments no one else wants to do. But it’s better than nothing.” Tonks replied, but immediately her face went red in embarrassment from the last sentence she said, “I didn’t mean it like that or anything I was just saying-”
“You don’t need to explain I get what you meant.” Remus pushed off, he knew she worked herself wrong and he couldn’t take offense. Remus was a grown man, without a job, or a life for that matter. He felt a pit of sadness, he wished he was more than what he really was. He felt like an embarrassment, Tonks would have a successful life. She was already more successful than Remus, which pained him deeply.
“So how were your past few weeks?” Tonks said, trying to change the conversation
“Uneventful, the most I had was a full moon and that isn’t very exciting,” replied Remus. Tonks replied to his comment then continued to spy. He could tell she was still embarrassed by what she said so he didn’t try to start another conversation with her. Once again they sat in silence, but this time it was awkward. A feeling Remus could never remember between the two. The awkwardness slowly disappeared but they remained silent for another ten minutes until Tonks started a new conversation.
“You know what I find weird?” Tonks asked, once again looking at Remus. He could tell she was debating even saying those few words by the look on her face.
“What?” Remus replied to her question. Sometimes Tonks asked the stupidest questions that were so naive, questions that Remus found so obvious. But then Remus remembered Tonks was over twelve years younger than him. She still was practically a child, she barely knew anything nor barely lived.
“How after twelve years,” Tonks started, hesitating, “how Sirius still looks so handsome. Most people who leave Azkaban look like hell and they have been there for a few months. He was there for twelve years, but still, he looks the same. Still the smug handsome Sirius.”
“He always got the girls attention, he was always the handsome one.” Remus bluntly answered her question. Inside he was screaming and raging. He thought Tonks liked him, just how she acted around him. But maybe she was trying to get to know his best friend, Sirius. Lupin was trying to remain calm, hence why his answer was quite short and blunt. He looked over to see Tonks reaction, her face was mad. Her lips were pressed against each other, she was shaking her head in disbelief, and her eyes locked between Remus’s.
“You know perfectly well who I’ve fallen for.” Tonks said angrily, “if you weren't too busy feeling sorry for yourself.” Remus was taken back by her comment, never once did she yell at him like she did. Never did she ever point out his flaws, or anything.
“I-” Remus started but Tonks interrupted.
“You always dwell on yourself Remus, you make yourself less of a person. I know you know I love you and I know you have feelings for me. But your too in doubt of yourself to see on it. I could tell when I pointed out having to do all the dirty work was better than nothing, you were hurt. I understand that it must be terrible. But how can you just leave me hanging, I’m so madly in love with you it hurts. And you just sit here and act like I'm just another one of your friends. I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t stand you avoiding your feelings for me because you're sorry for yourself. I can’t.”
The whole time Tonks was ranting Remus stared at her, trying to hold back tears. Tonks herself was crying. Remus couldn’t believe what was happening, he didn’t know what to say.
“I can’t.” Remus said, “ I can’t love you because you deserve more.”
“Remus this is what I mean you're stuck in this world were your not good enough, because you are,” Tonks told Remus, tears still flowing down her face.
“No I am not,” Remus started to explain his voice starting to crack, “you need someone younger, someone, who has a job, someone who can provide. You don’t need someone years older, you don’t need someone who is really a monster.” At this point Remus was looking away from Tonks, he could feel some tears flowing down his face but he quickly wiped them. As he was wiping them away he heard her scoff.
“That doesn’t matter to me Remus, I don’t care!” She pleaded Remus turned around to her and looked her straight in the eye.
“To me it does, I don’t want you to love me then realize you made a mistake. I’m not worth loving. I could never put you through me, Tonks.” Remus cried. Tonks was shaking her head, her clothes were starting to become damp from all the tears.
“Remus, you need to start understanding you a human too, not just-” Tonks bawled, she couldn’t even finish the sentence from all her tears.
“You don’t understand, I am not a human. I’m a monster. I’m not worth loving.”
“Yes, you are Remus, to me you are!” Tonks quietly said over her tears. Remus just stared at her, he didn’t know what to say at this point. He could do what Tonks wanted and truly love her back. Remus knew he couldn’t love her how she deserved too. He wanted it so bad, she wanted it so bad but he couldn’t. Everything he wanted he would never be able to have. So he just looked at Tonks, her face was so helpless. Tonks was looking down at the ground, he knew she was still crying but her sobs became quite.She looked so lost and alone, she needed Remus and Remus needed her. But he needed to make a decision, a hard decision.
“No,” Remus whispered. Tonks immediately looked up at him, tears still flowing down her cheeks.
“No, it will never work. I won’t argue with you, because I will never change my mind.” Remus confirmed to Tonks.
Remus looked at Tonks to see how she would react. He was afraid she would scream, or yell, or cry.But, her face immediately lost all emotion, tears stopped flowing down her red rosy cheeks, Tonks' mouth was straight no frown or anything. She took a long deep breath and looked up into the sky then back at Remus. He saw her hair turn a mousy brown colour with a bit of waves. Just for a few seconds, he saw her with her new hair, then he heard a loud crack and then she was gone. Quickly Remus apparated because he knew tonks just blew their cover. He was back at his shabby apartment, alone. He collapsed to the floor and started to cry. Like everything in his life, he just lost Tonks. The one person he ever loved romantically he lost because he was scared. Scared of failing her, he wished he could take back what he said and love Tonks. But he couldn’t. Remus knew he was too old, too poor, and would never be good enough for the young whimsical auror he fell in love with.