Let Go by inell

Let Go

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"Why do they always choose dark alleys?" Tonks whined, looking around the damp alley with a grimace.

"Well, I suppose you'd be a very good criminal if you were trying to kill someone out in a public street during the middle of the day."

"I didn't really expect an answer, Billy," Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "It was one of those hypocritical questions. Hypoethical."

"Hypothetical?" Bill's smile was smug even as he looked at her with an innocent expression.

"Next time Moody suggests that I work with the darling of Gringotts, I'm going to say no," she told him firmly. "I'm trying to do important Auror business, Billy boy, not worry about big words with too many bloody syllables for normal folks to learn."

"Sure you will, Nymphadora. You'd refuse when I would," he said confidently.

She glanced away from him and frowned at the dirty alley. "How's your bird?" she asked bluntly, moving away from him even as she fought the impulse to lean closer.

"Fleur is settling in well. And she's not my anything. Just a colleague."

"Yeah, right. Shacklebolt's my colleague, and I've not gone out to dinner with him and I certainly haven't shagged him." She looked pointedly at Bill, feeling as if she'd been kicked in the stomach when he looked guilty instead of denying her words. "Well, then."

"It's not---you and I, we're just us, Nymphadora. Nothing serious, no strings. That's what you wanted, remember? What I wanted, too, I guess."

"But she makes you want strings," Tonks murmured, rubbing her suddenly cold arms as she watched the entrance to the alley. She tried to smile. "She's gorgeous, Billy boy. Lucky you and all that rot. Not the time nor place for this, though."

"Don't be this way," Bill asked quietly. "We talked about this years ago, after you were out of school, and we decided it wasn't right. Don't shut me out."

"I was eighteen and entering Auror training, and you were in Egypt," she reminded him. She looked at him then and shook her head, changing her hair from magenta to black as it neared the time for the informant to arrive. "Different lives, you and me. Should have known better, but I've always had a bad habit of falling when I shouldn't."

"Nymphadora, I'm just dating her," he said, reaching for her arm. "We need to talk."

She reacted quickly, casting a petrificus charm so he couldn't touch her. If he touched her, her resolve would crumble. "Think we've done enough talking, don't you? I do hope she makes you happy, Billy, but I won't be the bit on the side. I deserve better than that, so does she. It's time to just let go. Now, I expect this conversation is over since I see the bloke I'm supposed to trail and need to get to work."

She stood up, focusing and changing her body until she was heavier and older. Holding her head high, she released Bill as she walked away.

End