Here Be Dragons

Round One: Optional prompt "Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting."

Remus Lupin tapped the bricks in Diagon Alley quickly, then leaped through and pulled his cloak tighter about him as Nymphadora Tonks followed behind.

"All right, then," he muttered in a low voice. "Where are we going?"

"Er," said Tonks, "I thought maybe we could stop by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, say hello to the twins. But maybe Potage's, I've been meaning to replace my cauldron after the pomegranate juice...incident."

"Quite," said Lupin. "Well, let's get that out of the way first."

"Okay. There's no rush."

He raised his eyebrows but said nothing as she entered the cauldron shop. As she sorted among small, cheap models, he walked around the store, counting the number of steps from one wall to the one opposite. "Try the brass model," he volunteered as he passed by.

She weighed it in her hands, experimentally, but did ultimately decide on it as he pulled out a quill and parchment from under his robes and started scribbling some notes down.

"That's all settled?" he nodded as they left the store. "Want to Apparate back?"

"Oh no, I said we were going to see the twins, didn't I?"

"We? What did you bring me along for? Goodness, Tonks, you're an Auror, surely you know how to conduct shopping by yourself!"

She rolled her eyes. "Can't we just go out somewhere for a day?"

"Out. In Hogsmeade. Like on a date?"

"Yes, you silly man."

He shook his head. "I forget how young you are sometimes."

"Well. Let's go drop in on a pair of miscreants who make me look grown up."

So they made their way to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Again, Tonks began inspecting the merchandise (from a safe distance; George had insisted he wouldn't charge her for the damaged Skiving Snackboxes two weeks prior, but she didn't want to infringe on his generosity again). And again, Lupin paced the room before making some notes to himself. Then he stood in the doorframe and cast a spell into the building, that faded immediately after it left the end of his wand. "Losing my touch," he muttered.

"What're you doing?" called Tonks.

"Taking notes," he smiled.

"My brilliant Auror powers of deduction had suggested as much," she grinned. "Is this...business...stuff?"

He shook his head. "No. Just a project I'm working on."

"Remus Lupin, having a bit of a fun project all his own?" called Fred Weasley. "Will wonders never cease?"

"You'll like this, Fred," smiled Lupin, walking over to the desk and unrolling the parchment.

There, on one side, was a very crude sketch of Diagon Alley, with buildings labeled but no pretense of scale. In more cramped handwriting, though, he had estimated the buildings' sizes as if to draw a more detailed version later on.

"Another map?" Fred grinned—he had still not gotten over the thrill of meeting "Moony," his adolescent hero.

"Yes. And no. Obviously it'd be too impractical to keep track of every single person in Diagon Alley."

"And not Hogwarts?" Tonks pointed out.

"Well, there's more turnover," Lupin blushed. "But it's useful to know how many people are where, when—so you know when to avoid long lines."

"Having extra copies for store owners could be useful, too. Keep track of how their stores get crowded or less crowded over time. Would it be possible to make lots of these at once?"

"I suppose—I haven't thought about it very much, yet."

"You should do what the Weasleys do. Try to turn a profit off of these, don't just keep them for yourself."

"I'd be happy to, but I can't exactly see myself applying for a storefront of my own, here."

"Remus, you silly. When the war's over, everything will change."

"What's this?" he gaped. "Dora Tonks showing some foresight and long-range planning? Truly, magic will never cease."

She blushed and whispered something neither of the others could hear.

"What was that?" asked Fred.

"None of your business."

"Tell you what, Moony," Fred grinned, "when you figure out what you're doing with these, you're welcome to sell them here. I'd market them as secrets, right? When your friends are afraid of lines at the Leaky just say "oh, my Inner Eye tells me it's fine.""

"You can't keep it a secret," Tonks argued, "you have to advertise it for the galleons to come in."

"You both flatter me," said Lupin. "But I'll let you know if I happen to make any progress."

"Good," said Tonks.

"Anywhere else you wanted to go?"

"See, you're getting the hang of just enjoying yourself," she teased. "No, but do you? Anywhere you need to measure?"

"Not right now, but let's try Flourish and Blotts if you don't mind."

"Of course not," said Tonks, waving to Fred as they left the shop.

Despite at first claiming she was just there to look, Tonks quickly bought a copy of Which Broomstick. While Lupin looked for measurements, he also squinted at the books on the shelves. "Going to buy anything?" Tonks asked.

"No," he said quietly. "just look. These books near the front are literally centuries out of date. And the Muggle literature section is gone. I don't like what's coming."

Tonks sighed. "Me neither, but listen to this."

"What?"

"What you were saying at the joke shop—I'm not brilliant with plans, but when I think about you—I can think about the future."

"D—Tonks, you know how risky—"

"Because I've never been at risk before!"

He sighed. "One day at a time."

"Fine. Muggle London. Dinner. Tonight."

"You drive a hard bargain."

"And I'm paying."

He rolled his eyes. "We shouldn't have bothered with Flourish and Blotts."

"Yes we should have, shush."

"I don't really—"

"In fact, how about this? I'll come back next week too and help you measure. We can get some tape measures, do it properly."

"I don't think shopowners would appreciate us standing in front of their shops with measuring tape—"

"Find one of the magical kind Ollivander uses so it flies around without getting in the way."

He paused. "That's a good idea. Thank you."

She grinned, and perhaps it was just being a Metamorphmagus, but perhaps there was a bit more of a twinkle in her eye.