Archive of Our Own ^beta

*
Tonks had been hyper-efficient that week - even Harry had commented. Tonks was a lead trainer in the Auror department, and had about fifty recruits. Each recruit had roughly ten pages in their file, and usually it took Tonks a week and a half to get through all of them after a test. Not this week.

Kingsley started up at her, blinking. “You’re completely finished?”

“Completely. Could I go over the entry test for you?”

“You’re completely done, and you want MORE work? Are you feeling okay?”

“Come on, Kingsley,” Tonks whinged. “I’m not that bad.”

He chuckled. “True, you’re not. Feel free to go over the test, but I can’t help still thinking you’re up to something.”

“Nothing nefarious,” Tonks assured him. “I’m going home with Ginny for the first time.”

“But...you’ve been over to the Weasley’s -“

“Sure, when I was just another Order member. But this is the first time since we became...a thing.”

“Wait...but you’ve been together for two ye-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen them and everything, but I haven’t been to their house. That’s different.”

Kingsley just smiled at her.

Tonks huffed. “Fine...I’ll stop stalling and go pack, I suppose.”

“Good idea. You’ll be fine, Tonks.”
*

By the time Tonks and Ginny made it to the newly remodeled Burrow, everyone else was already there. Harry and Luna were in the living room with Molly, George, and Angelina, attempting to help decorate the tree. Between Harry and George goofing off, and Molly telling stories about how they got each ornament, not too much actual work was taking place. Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Fleur were bringing the cookies and snacks out of the kitchen. Arthur, looking quite frazzled, was supervising all of his grandchildren in the building of a gigantic gingerbread house. His eyes lit up when he saw Tonks and Ginny.

“Oh wonderful! I’m going to leave supervising construction to you,” he said, ushering Tonks into a chair. “I’m going to go...have a stiff drink.”

Tonks laughed and grabbed a tube of frosting to help stabilize the left wing of the castle. It only took about five minutes before the requests started flying in. The kids had been told not to pester Tonks for morphing entertainment...but kids were kids.

“Auntie Tonks, do the pig face!”

“Ginger like us, Tonks!”

“Okay, but can you do like...anything? Like morphing? Anything?”

Tonks paused in her addition of gumdrop gargoyles to one of the towers to have a bit of a flashback to the last time she’d been asked that question. It was during training, and the guy’s request had been decidedly X-rated. She figured Dominique’s question wouldn’t be that inappropriate, so she said, “Mostly. Why?”

“Can you make yourself look like my mom?”

Tonks glanced around as all of the children went into peels of laughter. She had no idea why the kid wanted that, but she obliged. The kids all exploded in laughter again, and she changed back to her regular Tonks look. She felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down. Baby Molly was standing there, waving for Tonks to lean down.

“I think Aunt Ginny needs you,” the little girl whispered.

Tonks looked up to see Ginny leaned against the doorframe, watching the proceedings. “You guys make sure that the north tower is stable. Might need a few more marshmallows.” She walked over and took Ginny’s hand. “Hey. You good?”

“I’m good. I was just watching,” Ginny said, wrapping her hands around Tonks’s waist. “You’re good with them.”

“Kids just want to know you’re listening to them. Kind of like first year recruits.” She kissed Ginny on the cheek. “Hey, do you want -”

“Presents!”

A collective shriek of joy came from multiple rooms of the house, drowning out whatever Tonks had been going to say. Ginny smiled and pulled her into the living room.

“Later,” she said, as Arthur and Molly began handing out presents. The family’s schedules were hectic that year, so Christmas Eve had been dedicated to presents. Those who could stay would be having brunch the next day, but plenty were leaving.

“This one’s from us,” Tonks said, passing Arthur a small box.

“Haha!” he exclaimed, opening it.

Ginny turned an inquisitive look to Tonks, who grinned.

Arthur held up a hedgehog shaped Chia Pet, and the rest of the family laughed. Ever since building his bigger and better shed, they’d been having a blast trying to give him odd Muggle things to decorate and/or play with.

Ginny gave Tonks a gentle nudge. “Good one.”

“Told you to leave it to me!”

“I know I can depend on you,” Ginny said. “Except with eggnog.”

“It was one time!”

“That feels like a story,” Fred said, grinning.

“How was I supposed to know there were so many flavors of eggnog?” Tonks lamented. “She didn’t specify -”

“So you bring back seven gallons of eggnog, Tonks?” Ginny asked, laughing.

“I didn’t want to get it wrong,” Tonks shrugged as Harry and Angelina laughed. “So I brought one of all ten flavors.” She glanced over at Ginny as the rest of the family chuckled, and began telling stories of other holiday mishaps. All of the children had received handmade teddy bears from Molly, and as the stories got more...adult...Bill and Fleur volunteered to get the kids and their bears off to bed.

Tonks was feeling a lot more relaxed, but still a bit anxious. As the rest of the family went off to bed, she pulled Ginny toward the kitchen’s back door. “Want to go for a bit of a walk before bed?”

“Sure,” Ginny said, Summoning their coats. “How are you doing? Let me know if you need a break from the chaos that’s my family.”

“I’m great, Gin. I love your family.”

“They grow on you, don’t they?” Ginny joked as they strolled into the backyard. Snow was falling softly, coating the ground and pants with a light sugar coating.

“They do. Hey,” Tonks said, gently pulling Ginny to a stop around a large tree. “I...uh...I wanted to talk about something.”

“What’s up?” Ginny asked.

Tonks took a deep breath. She wanted it to be a Christmas present, but she had wanted this to be a moment just for the two of them. So...it was now or never. “I love you. So much. And I know we’ve both been through things that most people can’t imagine. But...we understand. We understand each other, and we’ve grown so much. I want to grow together forever.” Tonks got down on one knee, and pulled a ring box out of her pocket. “I want to see you take on the world, and I want you to know I’m behind you every step of the way. Will you marry me?”

Ginny had been nodding, mouth open in shock, since Tonks had knelt in the snow. She found her voice now, and whispered, “Yes!”

Tonks grinned and scooped her up into a spinning hug, their combined laughter floating over the quiet, snowy yard. She put Ginny down, and took the ring back out, sliding it onto her fiance’s finger.

“It’s beau…” Ginny began, but stopped when she got a proper look at the ring. The Burrow had floating lights outside every night - a leftover bit of paranoia from the war - and one had floated right above them. “Tonks...you went with diamond,” she said, smiling.

Tonks nodded. She knew Ginny liked emerald and sapphire, the latter of which was the prominent stone; but she still had a thin ring of diamonds surrounding it. “I asked George’s blessing, but I figured Fred should be involved too. April is diamond.”

Ginny pulled her into a tight hug, and they stayed like that for a long while. Finally, when the snow began coming down in earnest, Ginny pulled back, face a little wet with tears. “I love you - even if I can’t send you to the store for eggnog.”

Tonks let out another laugh, and wrapped an arm around Ginny. “Well, I have to have a couple of failings. Wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the world if I were completely perfect. Let’s get back inside, Future Mrs. Tonks.”

“After you, Future Mrs. Weasley.”