Title: Cocoa and Cuddles
Word Count: 793 words
Rating: K+ (just to be safe)
Disclaimer: Remus and Tonks are not mine, no matter how much I might wish I owned Remus ;p
Summary: Tonks comes home after having missed Valentine's Day
Author's Notes: Dedicated to my wonderful beta, who knows who she is, and to my very own Remus, even though he's never going to read this
Tonks hauled her weary body inside 12 Grimmauld Place as quietly as possible, fervently praying that she did not disturb Auntie. Sluggishly she dragged herself off to the kitchen for a post mission cocoa, alone. After a double Auror shift followed by Order guard duty she was, mercifully, too tired to trip over the troll's leg umbrella stand that was her perpetual nemesis.
Descending the kitchen steps, Tonks found that someone had anticipated her need for late night cocoa; there, standing on the worn kitchen table, stood her favourite cup with a generous helping of cocoa powder. She looked to the hob to find milk in a pan ready for the boil. She sighed; they'd thought of everything. Underneath her mug was a note, which she read whilst she prepared her comforting beverage, and as tired as she was, the contents of the note brought a small smile to her lips;
i N,
Thought you could probably use a warm drink after so long on your feet. I'll be in my usual place.
R xx /i
Stumbling slightly up the kitchen steps, Tonks took herself and her cocoa off in the direction of the Grimmauld library, the only place that kind and considerate people with the initial R were likely to be at this ridiculous hour of the morning. Concentrating hard on opening a door at the same time as balancing a mug full of hot liquid took nearly all of Tonks' dwindling energy, but soon enough she was rewarded with the familiar sight of Remus Lupin sat in his usual armchair, a large book perched on his lap. He looked up when she entered, and he smiled; that damn sexy half smile of his, the one he reserved for her, and her alone.
"Didn't think you would actually be up; you really should be in bed," pointed out Tonks, trying not to sound ungrateful that he was actually there.
Remus closed his book with a small thud and placed it on the coffee table.
"Well, when one unfortunately suffers from occasional bouts of insomnia, and since it is, well, I should say i was /i Valentine's day up until a few hours ago, it seems only logical that I should wait up to greet my Auror girlfriend who is coming home from a 72 hour shift."
He smiled that smile of his again, blue-grey eyes twinkling in a way that would give Dumbledore a run for his money, and Tonks knew that it didn't matter that she was absolutely knackered, coming home to Remus was the best feeling she'd ever had.
"Shift up," ordered Tonks as she crossed the room to curl up with Remus, though the armchair was clearly not big enough for the both of them
Ten blissful minutes were then spent with her head on his shoulder, inhaling the scent of Remus mingled with the aroma of cocoa while she sipped at her drink and Remus traced lazy circles on her back. Tonks was well aware that the warmth in her stomach had nothing whatsoever with the increasingly luke-warm drink in her hand.
"I suppose I should wish you a happy Valentine's Day," murmured Remus quietly.
"Why? That was yesterday, and I didn't get to see you then. Today is so much better than Valentine's Day 'cos you're here, with me."
Remus' mouth hitched up into an amused half smile.
"You're sure you wouldn't rather have had something a bit flashier? A dozen red roses and a Valentine's themed meal in some muggle restaurant perhaps?" His brows crease slightly then, as they sometimes do, and Tonks knows that he's worried that her answer will be yes.
"No, why would I want something any bloke could have done for me? Only you would think to leave me out a post-mission cocoa, and wait up 'til some ridiculously stupid hour for me to come home, only so you can get used as a pillow. That's just so you; that's why I'm so completely in love with i you /i Mr Lupin."
Tonks finished with a large yawn and put her head back down on his shoulder. In doing so she completely missed the smile that took over Remus' face at her words, his eyes lighting up and the years falling away despite his greying hair. Remus knew that she was falling asleep, and that he had resigned himself to spending the night as a pillow curled up in a not-entirely-comfortable position.
But he didn't care.
He didn't care that he would have a crick in his neck in the morning, or that he had lost feeling in his legs. None of these things mattered to Remus because Nymphadora Tonks was completely in love with i him /i , and he was completely, utterly, hopelessly in love with her.