Nymphadora Tonks kisses like she's laughing.
Her being my best friend's second cousin and 8 years my junior, I probably shouldn't know how Nymphadora Tonks kisses at all. But I do.
When she kisses, her mouth forms a sort of pouty half-grin and she snuggles into you, the warmth of the kiss combined with the warm weight of her body, and there's no other feeling quite like it in the world.
As I lay here in the half-dark of her disorganized but dust-free bedroom while she sleeps, I ponder her. I wonder what she thinks. What she feels when I make love to her.
Tonks's bedroom is a room full of memories. Her bulletin board is a flurry of movement as she and random family members chase each other back and forth. They stop to wave at me and I stare back, smiling and still pondering her existence.
Nymphadora Tonks looks like an angel when she's sleeping.
That particular night as I lay pondering her, she lay snuggled next to me, her long blonde-streaked bright-red hair (as it was then, so coloured in the spirit of Christmas, which happened to be a week away.) spread all over my chest and down her back, her eyes closed, a faint, dreamy expression on her innocent-looking face. I could not imagine anything more beautiful.
I know that I am in love with Nymphadora Tonks. I like to believe she loves me back equally (Though she assures me, she does.)
I decide then and there, in the half-dark of her disorganised bedroom, ten minutes before midnight, with Photographs and Memories playing on the stereo and her sleeping next to me that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.
The next morning, I would ask her to marry me.
I, Remus Lupin, was going to ask Nymphadora Tonks to be my wife.
The morning immediately following my decision, I woke long before her, moving carefully as not to disturb. Did I say that she looks like an angel when she's sleeping? I believe I did.
Anyway, I got up, showered, dressed and Apparated home, retrieved the ring that I had been saving, and Apparated back.
Tonks was still asleep when I got back, but she awoke as soon as she heard her bedroom door creak open. I kissed her and whispered "Morning." She grinned sleepily. "G'morning."
"Did I wake you?"
"No, 'course not. I was just--" she yawned. "About to wake up," she finished, stretching.
I kissed her again.
"How about I make breakfast and you take a shower?" I suggested.
She looked mock-horrified. "You're not trying to come with me?"
I laughed at the expression on her face. "Not at all."
"Okay." She rolled out of bed, wrapped a robe around herself and wandered out of the room, humming Jingle Bells.
Meanwhile, I walked downstairs, wrapped her ring with a tap of my wand and put it under the singing Christmas tree.
She came downstairs fifteen minutes later, her hair (now short and green with red spikes, further Christmas decorating.) still damp and clinging to her forehead. "What's for breakfast?" she asked.
"Chocolate chip pancakes." She liked those.
"Yay!" she shook her head and water droplets fell to the ground.
We sat down and ate no more than five minutes later (a lot you can accomplish in five minutes) and when we were through, I instructed her to sit on the living room sofa and close her eyes.
She did so, and I retrieved the ring. "Okay," I breathed. I knelt down, holding the still-wrapped box. The music playing on the stereo switched from Jingle Bell Rock to What Are You Doing New Year's Eve. 'Perfect,' I thought, taking a deep breath and preparing myself. "Honey, open your eyes."
She did, and as soon as she did, she gasped. "Ohhh," she breathed, falling back into the sofa. "Oh Remus."
I smiled. "Nymphadora. Tonks," I started. "I. I mean. I. Would you." I trailed off, breathless, worried of her reaction.
She smiled, kissed me and whispered 'yes'. In that moment, with just that pivotal word, she made every emotion I had ever experienced rush through my body. I slipped the ring onto her finger and pulled her into an embrace.
"I love you," I mouthed.
"Love you, too," she replied, kissing me on the nose.
The next few hours, Tonks talked my ear off, baking cookies and making plans. I let her voice wash over me, watching as she moved and crashed about.
"And Harry. And Ron and all the Weasleys."
"Mm-hm."
"Hermione. The Malfoys? Not that I like them, they're related."
"Okay."
"Your mum, my mum. Anyone else?"
"Unm, Moody."
"How could we forget Moody?" Tonks tripped on her untied shoelaces and went flying and landed with a clatter. She looked up at me and grinned. "Ow," she said.
Marrying Tonks was definitely going to be an adventure.
Her being my best friend's second cousin and 8 years my junior, I probably shouldn't know how Nymphadora Tonks kisses at all. But I do.
When she kisses, her mouth forms a sort of pouty half-grin and she snuggles into you, the warmth of the kiss combined with the warm weight of her body, and there's no other feeling quite like it in the world.
As I lay here in the half-dark of her disorganized but dust-free bedroom while she sleeps, I ponder her. I wonder what she thinks. What she feels when I make love to her.
Tonks's bedroom is a room full of memories. Her bulletin board is a flurry of movement as she and random family members chase each other back and forth. They stop to wave at me and I stare back, smiling and still pondering her existence.
Nymphadora Tonks looks like an angel when she's sleeping.
That particular night as I lay pondering her, she lay snuggled next to me, her long blonde-streaked bright-red hair (as it was then, so coloured in the spirit of Christmas, which happened to be a week away.) spread all over my chest and down her back, her eyes closed, a faint, dreamy expression on her innocent-looking face. I could not imagine anything more beautiful.
I know that I am in love with Nymphadora Tonks. I like to believe she loves me back equally (Though she assures me, she does.)
I decide then and there, in the half-dark of her disorganised bedroom, ten minutes before midnight, with Photographs and Memories playing on the stereo and her sleeping next to me that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.
The next morning, I would ask her to marry me.
I, Remus Lupin, was going to ask Nymphadora Tonks to be my wife.
The morning immediately following my decision, I woke long before her, moving carefully as not to disturb. Did I say that she looks like an angel when she's sleeping? I believe I did.
Anyway, I got up, showered, dressed and Apparated home, retrieved the ring that I had been saving, and Apparated back.
Tonks was still asleep when I got back, but she awoke as soon as she heard her bedroom door creak open. I kissed her and whispered "Morning." She grinned sleepily. "G'morning."
"Did I wake you?"
"No, 'course not. I was just--" she yawned. "About to wake up," she finished, stretching.
I kissed her again.
"How about I make breakfast and you take a shower?" I suggested.
She looked mock-horrified. "You're not trying to come with me?"
I laughed at the expression on her face. "Not at all."
"Okay." She rolled out of bed, wrapped a robe around herself and wandered out of the room, humming Jingle Bells.
Meanwhile, I walked downstairs, wrapped her ring with a tap of my wand and put it under the singing Christmas tree.
She came downstairs fifteen minutes later, her hair (now short and green with red spikes, further Christmas decorating.) still damp and clinging to her forehead. "What's for breakfast?" she asked.
"Chocolate chip pancakes." She liked those.
"Yay!" she shook her head and water droplets fell to the ground.
We sat down and ate no more than five minutes later (a lot you can accomplish in five minutes) and when we were through, I instructed her to sit on the living room sofa and close her eyes.
She did so, and I retrieved the ring. "Okay," I breathed. I knelt down, holding the still-wrapped box. The music playing on the stereo switched from Jingle Bell Rock to What Are You Doing New Year's Eve. 'Perfect,' I thought, taking a deep breath and preparing myself. "Honey, open your eyes."
She did, and as soon as she did, she gasped. "Ohhh," she breathed, falling back into the sofa. "Oh Remus."
I smiled. "Nymphadora. Tonks," I started. "I. I mean. I. Would you." I trailed off, breathless, worried of her reaction.
She smiled, kissed me and whispered 'yes'. In that moment, with just that pivotal word, she made every emotion I had ever experienced rush through my body. I slipped the ring onto her finger and pulled her into an embrace.
"I love you," I mouthed.
"Love you, too," she replied, kissing me on the nose.
The next few hours, Tonks talked my ear off, baking cookies and making plans. I let her voice wash over me, watching as she moved and crashed about.
"And Harry. And Ron and all the Weasleys."
"Mm-hm."
"Hermione. The Malfoys? Not that I like them, they're related."
"Okay."
"Your mum, my mum. Anyone else?"
"Unm, Moody."
"How could we forget Moody?" Tonks tripped on her untied shoelaces and went flying and landed with a clatter. She looked up at me and grinned. "Ow," she said.
Marrying Tonks was definitely going to be an adventure.