Disclaimer: Not mine. Everything is J.K. Rowling's. I'm jealous ;)
A/N: This is my first fanfiction so I hope that it's OK. Please read and review. Thanks.x
Don't Call Me Nymphadora
"Love can be dangerous, wolfishly in fact. Yet you cannot help but have feelings for him. He doesn't understand, says he's too old, too poor, but you don't care. You never listen to his warnings; you want to be with him. He could be the poorest person in the world and you'd still love him."
***
Chapter 1- The Announcement
"Nymphadora-" Remus began,
"How many times have I told you? Don't call me Nymphadora."
"Sorry," Remus said defensively. "Fine, Dora-"
Tonks raised her eyebrows.
"But Tonks is a silly name," he protested.
"No it isn't," she replied. "It's sensible."
"How is it? Your dearest mother gave you a name that she liked and you throw it back in her face and use your surname."
"So would you if your dearest mother gave you a name like Nymphadora," Tonks interjected fiercely, her hair changing from the usual bubblegum pink to a flaming red.
"Fair point," Remus said, backing down, he knew when he was fighting a losing battle.
She smiled. Her hair changed back to its regular colour.
"Good."
He grinned back. Despite the slight disputes they had, they were very happy and were pretty evenly matched. She was bubbly and vivacious, whereas he was quieter and shy. With her however, Remus Lupin seemed to have come out of his shell a bit. Just a tiny bit.
"Do you think this is a good idea?" Remus asked, hesitantly. He eyed the door with obvious apprehension, hearing the voices of his friends coming from the other side.
"You know I do," Tonks replied. "I suggested it in the first place."
"Good point."
"I always make good points," she shot back grinning.
With that, Remus poked her in the ribs. She fell against the wall, laughing. Remus laughed too, everything about her was infectious.
Ever since she admitted her love for him, he realised that actually, he harboured feelings for her too. He had tried to tell himself that it would pass, but every time he saw her it felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart with Godric Gryffindor's sword. He had remained adamant that he was too old, too poor, and too dangerous. She had remained adamant that she didn't care about his imperfections, she just wanted him. Eventually he had given in to his feelings and he couldn't have been happier. Life with Nymphadora Tonks was one hell of a rollercoaster; a rollercoaster that was exhilarating, exciting and enjoyable. He had never anticipated that his life would turn out like this. Secretly, he loved it.
Tonks took a gasping breath and tried to stop laughing. Having failed that, she proceeded to tickle him. He doubled over, howling with laughter and tried to push her away, resulting in her knocking over the troll leg umbrella stand. Thankfully, the people in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place were making enough noise so that Remus and Tonks remained unheard. Giggling, she set the umbrella stand upright again.
"Honestly," she scalded. "You should know better than that."
"Oh sorry, I forgot," he grinned. "You're clumsy enough to knock it over yourself; you don't need me to push you."
Tonks stuck her tongue out defiantly. She burst out laughing as Remus copied her.
Being with Remus was excellent. She never expected that he could be so much fun. She had fallen in love helplessly and had refused to give up on him. He had tried to make her forget her feelings but to no avail. Every time she had seen him it had felt like she had been run over by the Knight Bus. There had been no way of controlling it and she had tried to forget. That hadn't happened and now she was glad that she had declared her love in front of nearly everyone they knew. He had obviously decided that it was worth a try. However, none of their friends or family knew about their relationship yet. She didn't know what her parents would think about her falling in love with a werewolf. Remus had agreed that it didn't sound hopeful.
When her breathing had returned to normal, Remus took her hand. She squeezed it tightly, looking slightly nervous. In fact, Remus noted, this was possibly the first time he had ever seen her looking anywhere near nervous. He quite liked it. He squeezed her back.
"Are you ready?" he asked gently.
"Not really," she admitted, smiling weakly.
"Me neither," he confessed, eyeing the door handle with apprehension.
She took hold of the handle and with quick kiss and another squeeze of his hand; she pushed the heavy oak door open.
***
Sirius couldn't help but smile as he looked around the kitchen. The sounds of pleasant talk and laughter filled his ears; sounds he never thought of hearing in this god-forsaken place. Growing up here, he had learnt to hate the dusty corridors and draughty rooms. His mother, severe and strict, shouting orders down the stairs. He had hated this place and was glad to escape the pressing silence, broken only by his mother shrieking obscenities. Now it was filled by the majority of his friends and his godson, sitting down in the kitchen, about to celebrate Christmas with him.
The door of the kitchen creaked open and in stepped Remus and Tonks. Sirius smiled, the last of his friends had arrived. At that moment he noticed that their hands were entwined and he shot a sly grin at Tonks, who winked at him.
"Ah, there you are dears, I was wondering when you'd arrive," Mrs Weasley smiled gently, bustling around the kitchen. "Now, what can I get you to eat?"
"Um, well before that," Remus said nervously, his voice catching in his throat. "We have an announcement to make."
"Yes- it's nothing serious though," Tonks assured quickly, seeing a fleeting look of horror on some peoples faces. She smiled happily, looking again at Sirius and when she spoke, Remus could tell that she was excited.
"We thought we should tell you that we're together now!"
A scattering of applause swept across the room and a few congratulations; Sirius grinned and made his way over to the happy couple. Remus was relieved and, he noted, Tonks couldn't stop smiling. This, after all, had been her dream. Sirius clapped him on the back and muttered something low enough for only Remus to hear.
"Finally mate. She was getting pretty desperate. I mean, she really liked you."
"I know," Remus admitted. "I'm glad it's turned out like it has."
"Me too," Sirius whispered. "She couldn't look happier if she'd won the Triwizard Tournament."
Remus grinned at his old friend, just wishing that James and Lily could have been there too; he knew that they would have been proud. Lily had always said that he would end up with a beautiful, understanding woman. Sirius had been dismissed as a 'hopeless case'.
After a few minutes, Sirius stopped smiling momentarily and looked slightly horrified, as though a terrible thought had occurred to him.
"What is it?" Tonks asked quickly.
"Wait a minute, this is bad," he said, pondering something. "Moony's getting some action and I'm not. I feel left out."
Everyone laughed and Remus and Tonks breathed a sigh of relief. Sirius grinned again.
"What? It's true."
Tonks poked him in the side.
"You had me worried for a minute there," she admitted.
"Same," Remus added. "Honestly, you shouldn't do that to me mate."
Chatter filled the room again as they sat at the roughly hewn oak table to eat the Christmas dinner that Mrs Weasley had so kindly prepared for them.
"Thanks Molly, this is great," Tonks praised through a mouthful of food.
"Thank you dear, but you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full," Molly scalded. "Honestly Nymphadora, I would have thought your mother would have taught you better."
Tonks bit her tongue as Remus stamped on her foot. He squeezed her hand on the table and smiled gently.
"Just leave it," he muttered. "It doesn't matter."
"Ok fine. But honestly, Nymphadora?"
"It's your name," Remus told her.
He raised his eyebrows to stop her as he could see that she was going to find a retort.
"I'm not saying anything," she whispered defiantly, before continuing with her dinner.
***
Later that night, Remus and Tonks settled down on their sofa. They had left Grimmauld Place at the same time as the Weasley's; now they were back at Remus' flat. Tonks had only recently moved in and all her stuff was still strewn across the floor; suitcases were piled in the bedroom. As they cuddled there, Remus was sweeping the room with his eyes.
"Honestly, I didn't know that a woman could own that many clothes ... And all those shoes ..."
"You obviously haven't known many women then," Tonks observed. "This is normal for most women ... Actually, most women own more than this."
Remus gaped as he surveyed the stack of suitcases and incredulously shook his head. He didn't expect to understand women's need for so many clothes and shoes. Tonks wasn't too bad, he had to admit and he liked the clothes she wore. Although, his wardrobe had considerably less, consisting of two shabby coats; three pairs of trousers with patches; three shirts that had seen better days; one threadbare sweatshirt; four pairs of shoes and a pair of trainers. All he needed. To him, there was no point owning more than necessary, just what you wore the majority of the time.
Tonks shook her head in despair. Remus didn't understand the need for lots of clothes; his wardrobe was minimal. She had decided that he could do with some new clothes, but they just couldn't afford it.
Remus had no job: once people learned of his lycanthropy he was turned down; people didn't want to risk having a werewolf in the workplace. She was an Auror and the money that she earned was the only source of income for them. Remus had always remained adamant that he was too poor for her but now they were together, she could help him; although he disliked charity he did accept her money because they needed it to pay for necessities. However, there wasn't enough for new clothes because the money only just covered the bills and food. Tonks had no idea how Remus had managed to cope on his own.
"Well I think you have enough clothes," Remus pointed out. "Although I've no idea how all this is going to fit in the wardrobe."
"It'll fit," Tonks reassured him. "We'll make it."
Remus looked doubtful for a moment then agreed. They would have to make it fit: there wasn't enough money to buy a new wardrobe. They lapsed into silence, not uncomfortably. Remus had no idea how he had ended up with someone as amazing as Tonks, but he was glad that he had. He had wanted to be able to provide for her; be able to buy her things that she wanted. As it was, she paid for all the bills and bought everything new that entered the dingy flat. Despite this, she never moaned once and Remus loved her for it.
Tonks smiled gently and slid her hand down his arm. She took his hand and pushed her fingers through his.
"Are you OK?" she asked. "You seem pretty quiet."
"Yeah I'm alright," Remus assured her. "I was just thinking about how unfair it is that you have to pay for everything."
She shook her head vigorously. "I honestly don't mind, please stop thinking about it," she pleaded.
He nodded. She squeezed his hand gently, hoping to reassure him.
"I don't care about the money," she admitted. "I just care about you."
Remus relaxed, his tension evaporating as her words soothed him: he was positive that she meant every word of it.
"I care about you too," he said, slightly embarrassed. "I only care about you."
Tonks smiled, her heart swelling.
"You really mean that?" she whispered.
"With all my heart," he assured her. "I just wish that I could do more for you."
"As I said, I honestly don't care. As long as I have you, that's all that matters."
"And as long as I have you, that's all that matters to me," Remus admitted.
She smiled, turning her head so he could kiss her. He grinned back and before he knew it, their lips were brushing against each others and their tongues were dancing together.
***
When Remus woke the following morning, he realised that Tonks wasn't in bed next to him. He looked at the clock. She never got up before 8am on a weekday and it was only 7:30. Puzzled, he pulled away the covers and got out of bed. He padded into the living room to find it empty. Just as he was about to call her name she appeared in the doorway of the tiny kitchen. This morning her hair was a vibrant purple.
"Well don't just stand there," she said grinning. "Come and help get breakfast ready."
Remus grinned back and followed her into the kitchen to discover a rather huge mess; the room looked as through a toddler had run through it pulling the contents of the cupboards onto the floor and worktop.
"Ah," he said, slightly dazed. "Do you really need help making more of a mess? You're doing pretty well yourself."
Tonks stuck her tongue out at him playfully. He grinned.
Together they cleaned up the mess that she had made. Remus could still remember the last time Tonks had offered to help Mrs Weasley cook dinner: the room had ended up looking rather similar to his kitchen. He was sure that Mrs Weasley was blessed with an equally sound memory and, needless to say, she had never asked Tonks to help with the cooking since. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that she never would.
"Nice hair," he complimented as they worked.
"Thanks, I felt like a bit of a change," she said grinning. "Purple is cool colour."
"It is," Remus agreed. "In fact it's my favourite colour."
Tonks smiled knowingly.
Once they had finished cleaning up the mess that she had made, they prepared their breakfast. Tonks was about to cut some slices of bread for toast when Remus stopped her.
"Maybe I should use the bread knife," he cautioned. "I think it would be safer. That's one hell of a huge blade and I'd rather not take you to St. Mungo's this morning."
She grinned at him and stuck her tongue out, although she had to admit that he had a point.
"Okay fine," she agreed. "I'll do some fried eggs and bacon then."
Remus sighed and then nodded. He wasn't sure which injury was better: a burn or a deep cut. He just hoped that Tonks didn't catch fire like his tea towels often did when she accidentally dangled them too close to the hob. And anyway, he thought, she's smouldering enough.
After eating their breakfast together, they prepared to go their separate ways for the day.
"Work. Wonderful," Tonks said grumpily.
"Still, we need the money," Remus pointed out.
"Yep, you're right. I'll go of course."
"I knew you'd be fine with it, you get to spend the day with Mad-Eye."
"Ooh yeah," she grinned.
It was his turn to stick his tongue out at her. Laughing, she tickled him under the armpits. He writhed on the sofa, laughing and gasping for breath. She grinned back, hands on hips.
"Job done."
She picked up her coat and smiled at Remus as he got to his feet.
"I'm off," she told him.
"Okay, see you when you get back," he smiled, and then remembered something. "I'm gonna go and visit Sirius at some point today so if I'm not back when you are, you know where I am."
"Cool," she replied. "See you later."
Remus gave her a hug and a quick kiss.
"See you later. Have fun!"
She grinned mischievously and closed the door behind her. Remus smiled before picking up his coat and keys, preparing to follow her.