Shining Bright
She was the first to rise every morning and the last to sleep each night, unable to sleep without making sure that everyone else was asleep with a smile on their faces first. Cooped up at Grimmauld Place, she knew that everyone's nerves were on edge and tempers were easy to set off.
So Tonks brought in colour to the drab Black house, changing her hair to the brightest hues of blues and reds that anyone had had the chance to feast their eyes on for a while. She learnt everyone's likes and dislikes pretty quickly – it was she who helped Bill and Fleur sneak into the same room at night so they could sleep in the comfort of each other's loving embrace and it was she who woke up oinking at Ginny each morning when the girl's eyes were spinning madly with nightmares only she could see.
Tonks couldn't cook to save her life, so instead she set the kitchen before Molly woke up so that the older woman could get to making breakfast with a cheery smile upon her worn face.
Only Remus could see the lines that criss-crossed around her bright eyes and the fingers she crossed every time she said the words, 'I'm fine'. She stuck to his side as much as she could while spreading herself thin to make everyone else happy, and his heart wrenched at the sight of the girl who was losing a little bit of herself with every day that passed by.
Which is why, on one fateful day that just so happened to be her birthday, he sneaked her out of the house under a disillusionment charm and took her to the park she'd declared as her favourite spot ever since her dad had taken her there as a child.
Her eyes were blindfolded before they disapparated and she clutched tightly on to his hand as she stumbled across the gravelly path.
"Where are you taking me?" she whispered loudly and he swiftly placed a palm over her mouth, which she playfully nipped at.
"Remus!" Her voice turned whiny and his lips pulled apart in a grin after what felt like years.
"Happy birthday, darling," he whispered in her ears and kissed her lips softly, holding on to her tight as she was still blindfolded. Her annoyance melted away as she kissed him back fiercely, cherishing the salty sweet taste of his lips and craving for more.
"I love you," she whispered breathlessly as he took the blindfold off her eyes. She was staring at a huge chocolate cake placed on a simple stool beneath an enormous oak, and the icing on it continuously switched from "Happy Birthday, Tonks" to "I love you, darling!"
Without waiting to light or blow the candle that perched upon it, she cut a large cake and stuffed it into her lover's mouth as her hair turned as pink as the frosting.
"Best. Birthday. Ever!"
Entered in:
The Twelve Days of Christmas Style Challenge, 4th House Fic (Hufflepuff)
The Het-Tastic Drabble-Athon Competition, #32 - colour