Fic: Signals

[stereolightning.livejournal.com]

Author/Artist: stereolightning
Title: Signals
Rating & Warnings: G
Word Count or Art Format: 1500
Prompt: "Potterwatch" from gilpin25
Summary: The Potterwatch crew tests out a new secure location. Tonks has never been here before.

Tonks sat on the kitchen counter, tapping her swollen heels against the lower cupboards, and wondering how it could be that she had never been to her own husband's house before. Although he never referred to it as a house – it was always just “the cabin,” and he only went there at full moon. And yet, here she was, six months married and only now seeing the place for the first time. It was small and spartan. There were deep claw marks scored into the baseboards. There had once been bookshelves along the walls, but they had been removed – Tonks could tell by the oddly-coloured rectangular blotches in the wallpaper.

And it was quiet. Not eerie-quiet, but peaceful-quiet. Like a monastery. She could almost hear the dust motes floating through the air.

Except that Lee Jordan was currently sitting at the dining room table, turning the dials on the wireless, catching snippets of chatter, and in the spaces between them, static hissed with a sound like thousands of sheets of parchment all being crumpled at once.

“...must report for identification. A number will be issued to each so-called Muggleborn –”

FFFFFFFFT –

“the whereabouts of Undesirable Number One or – ”

FFFFFFFFFT –

Lee frowned and chewed his lip as he worked. Kingsley was due to arrive any moment, and they would broadcast shortly after that.

The kettle whined and Remus poured the water for tea. He passed Tonks as he went to fetch the sugar, and on the return trip, he stopped and foisted another slice of apple on her. She tugged him close by the front of his robes, pressing his hips against her knees, and kissed him by rubbing noses, because her mouth was full. She wondered if it was strange for him to be seen engaging in such openly husbandly affection in front of a former student, but if it was, he wasn't that bothered.

Remus had made it through autumn with surprisingly little angst. Two years ago, when they spent most of their time at Grimmauld Place, he had been moody and wistful in the weeks preceding and following Halloween. This time around, though, he seemed to be focused on taking care of her, and on Potterwatch. He still had moments where he looked far-away, lost in thought, and he definitely had moments of solemn atonement for having left her back in August, but on the whole, she thought he might actually be happy. This whole courtship had been like trying to tame a feral cat, but she'd done it, and now he spent almost every night curled up in her bed, purring and making dry jokes.

He kissed each of her eyelids and then returned his attention to the tea.

“I like this house,” she said.

He arched an eyebrow as he sifted tea leaves out of their package. “This is not a house. It's the shrieking shack with marginally nicer amenities. Nobody's lived here for years and years.”

“Since your Dad?”

“Yes.”

She made another survey of the old wood and the mid-century, aquamarine kitchen tile. “Well, I like it. And I like all this pretty Welsh countryside. And the sheep. And the quiet. And you're not that far from the seaside.”

He set down the teapot and gave her an indulgent, closed-lipped smile. “Oh, Dora.”

“What?”

He pointed a teaspoon accusingly at her. “You're getting romantic ideas.”

She tapped her heels against the cupboards again. “I might be.”

He shook his head, still smiling. “It's drafty. There's no Floo connection, no running water, and I sold half the furniture a long time ago. I would have to find somewhere else to go at full moon. And it would take weeks and weeks to make this place childproof.”

“Yes, but, think about it, how lovely would it be to grow up here? I bet all sorts of interesting creatures live out here. Unicorns. Wild puffskeins.”

“Hobbits.”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

She wrinkled her nose at what was undoubtedly a very bad joke. “Well, I like it.”

At that moment, Tonks felt a disturbance in the protective enchantments, the way a spider feels a fly struggling at the opposite end of its web. She scooted toward the window and saw Kingsley Shacklebolt and Fred Weasley striding briskly toward the house. The stars were bright, hot-bright, as if the night sky were a black cloak pricked full of holes, covering some endless blue-white sun.

Tonks hopped down from her perch, noticing again the recent shift in her center of gravity. She had been all limbs and elbows and knees before, but now she felt like a walking aquarium for a single fish who made his presence known by strange fluttering movements.

She met Fred and Kingsley at the door, exchanging the usual security questions with Kingsley, who vouched for Fred.

“Side-along Apparition,” said Kingsley, “directly from Diagon Alley.”

“Hallo, Tonks,” said Fred, pulling her into a hug. “Has the Ministry outlawed fresh fruit now as well?”

“Sorry?” she said.

“Well, you've obviously taken to smuggling a cantaloupe under your robes,” said Fred.

She snickered and ruffled his ginger hair. “Git.”

“Hello, both of you,” said Remus, appearing in the corridor. “It's good to see you, Fred.”

“Thought I'd sit in for one broadcast before I start reporting, you know, officially,” said Fred. “Mum sends her love. She's dying to give you baby advice, by the way.”

“We owe her a letter,” said Remus, nodding. “I think we should set up the antenna on the roof.”

“I'll go,” called Lee from the dining room. “One of you can try tuning the box. It's still acting up.”

“I'll come with you,” said Fred, bounding up to greet his old friend.

Remus shook hands with Kingsley. Fred and Lee exited through the back door together, and a moment later, Tonks could hear them climbing up onto the roof, sharing news and laughing as they went.

“Tonks, do you mind if I borrow your owl? Haven't been able to send any messages since my little run-in with the Death Eaters,” said Kingsley.

She nodded. “No problem. I think he's hopping around in that back bedroom.”

“Thank you.”

She watched Kingsley turn the corner into the narrow corridor. He had lost a little weight since his near-capture a few weeks prior, but he seemed to be holding up well. If anything, he seemed oddly invigorated by the whole business. But that was a trademark of a good Auror – you drew energy from hardship, shone brighter under stress.

Tonks crossed to the dining room and sat down in front of the untuned wireless.

“My Dad used to repair these for a living,” she said, tapping the box with her wand.

Remus joined her a moment later, summoning the tea and his stack of notes for the broadcast. He took the seat beside her. As she took her cup from him, and their fingers brushed together, she caught him making a self-reproachful expression, lips tight, his other hand at his temple.

“Stop that,” she said, tapping him on the nose. “I told you I forgive you.”

He blinked a few times. “Your powers of deductive reasoning never cease to amaze.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It's all right. You came back. That's the only bit that matters anymore. What's the new password?”

“Fawkes.”

“All right.”

She turned the dials of the wireless this way and that. A piano and an electric orchestra trilled from the receiver. “Friday night and the lights are low, looking out for the place to go – ”

“Bit of Muggle radio interference?” Remus asked, looking amused.

She nodded. “I like this song.”

He squinted at her, still half-smiling. “You like ABBA?”

“Yeah, suppose so. Is that who this is? Why are you making that face?”

He set down his tea, and the corners of his mouth curled up even higher. “Well, honestly, what's the point in marrying someone your age if I still have to listen to disco?”

“Oh, fine. I'll treat you to the complete works of the Weird Sisters when we get home. Even the horrible experimental album that nobody likes.”

“I would much prefer that, thank you.”

Shaking her head at him, she twiddled the dials again, and the ecstatic ode to the seventeen-year-old Dancing Queen melted into static. A second later, a crackling sound indicated that Fred and Lee had succeeded in setting up the antenna. She spoke the password, and the wireless glowed. The interference died away, leaving only the quiet night and Fred's distant laughter.

“I really do like your house,” said Tonks.

Remus tapped his stack of notes against the table to straighten the edges. “It's your house now, Dora,” he said, peering at her over the pages.

She grinned. She read him, loud and clear.