One Step at a Time
A/N: Written for the QLFC Round 10, as Chaser 1 for the Wimbourne Wasps.
Prompts X3: The words: "range", "specialty" and "chemistry".
Set during the start of Book 5, when Scrimgeour was Head of the Aurors Office, and where Tonks and Lupin's relationship initiates faster than it does in the books.
Rufus Scrimgeour did not look at all pleased when Tonks stumbled into his office late on Monday morning.
"I- I'm…sorry... I'm late... Sir!" Tonks panted, desperately trying to compose herself. She was painfully aware of her scruffy appearance – she'd slept in the long blonde curls of the previous day, meaning to change it on her way to work. But she'd forgotten, and now her head resembled a bird's nest of tangles and frizz. Glancing down at her robes, she was dismayed to discover they were in serious need of ironing.
Really, it was just her luck that Scrimgeour had chosen this morning for her to give him an update on her work. It wasn't like she was late and unpresentable every day! Tonks felt a pang of annoyance at herself. She constantly felt as though she needed to prove herself to her boss; what with being the youngest and newest Auror. Incidents like this would hardly endear her to him. Despite not berating her, his gaze was stern as he matter-of-factly asked her to report on her investigation into Sirius Black's whereabouts.
Over half an hour of grilling questions later, Tonks finally emerged from Scrimgeour's office, feeling exhausted and lamenting the hours that remained until she could go home. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she entered the Aurors Office.
As she passed her colleagues' cubicles and voiced genial "good-mornings" to everyone, she caught a barely disguised snickering from Dawlish. With an inward groan she realised she'd forgotten to sort out the horror that was currently her hair. Collapsing in the chair behind her desk, she scrunched her face up in effort, and in a few seconds her mane turned sleek and straight, the length reducing to her shoulders. Honestly, she had no idea how normal witches had time for managing silly things like hair every day!
A fresh file was sitting in the center of her desk, and a quick perusal revealed it to be Kingsley's latest (fake) information on where Sirius Black was hiding (Tibet was the current fabrication). Tonks had been delighted to be assigned with Kingsley on the task of tracking down Sirius a few weeks ago. It really was the height of irony that they frequently visited and had dinner with the man they were supposedly trying to arrest.
She had thought Sirius would have found it amusing too, but since they set up Grimmauld Place as the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters, Sirius could not hide his frustration at being forbidden by Dumbledore to leave the house. Remus had voiced his concern that his friend would do something foolish in his restlessness for freedom.
Thinking back to when she first joined the Order, Tonks recalled her disappointment at being one of few witches involved - she expected it to be much like work where little remarks about her competency from male colleagues would slip out every now and then. They seemed to insinuate her clumsiness was a fault linked to her being a woman, as if that had anything to do with it! It disgusted her that such chauvinist views still existed in the modern Ministry. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find the Order members treated her no different from anyone else, and held her in respect for being a qualified Auror. And of course if she'd never joined the Order, she might never have met Remus…
For the first time since she left her apartment that morning, Tonks permitted her thoughts to stray back to what exactly had made her late for work. Or rather, who had.
The previous evening, Tonks had attended an Order meeting where the odious Severus Snape was giving a report. After the meeting, the members (excluding Snape of course, who always made a hasty departure) sat around the kitchen table, savouring Molly Weasley's dinner of beef casserole and apple pie dessert. Sirius, the wine boosting his usual sombre mood, began telling a range of tales from when he was at Hogwarts. Soon Remus joined in, amicably rebuking his friend for exaggerating certain details, such as Sirius' assertion that he'd once charmed Snape's hair pink.
"Not that there's anything wrong with pink hair, simply that not everyone pulls it off as marvellously as Nymphadora does," Remus clarified, his smile making Tonks' heart leap. Despite how she usually hated people using her first name, lately she'd found she liked how it sounded coming from Remus.
For the rest of the evening, she found herself drawn into discussions with him, talking about everything from her own unruly days at school, to the tests she'd undertaken to become an Auror. Looking back, she wondered if it was simply that they'd both drunk too much wine, but at the time she was convinced there was quite a spark of chemistry between them.
Tonks never had much luck romantically – she'd gone through many regrettable boyfriends, a few tolerable ones, and even had a once-off fling in her Seventh Year with her close friend Jessica. Since qualifying as an Auror over two years ago, her romantic experiences had been few and far between, her job taking up most of her time and energy. Certainly none of the men she'd dated were likely candidates for a long term relationship.
It hadn't fully struck Tonks until then, but there were many things about Remus that she admired. He was polite, thoughtful and perceptive; and of course incredibly brave and determined in his work for the Order. Tonks guessed that his strenuous monthly changes into a werewolf had forced him to mature quickly as a child, and given him a rather sombre outlook on life. Her heart ached when she heard about the difficulties he'd encountered, due to the prejudiced attitudes of other wizards towards "half-breeds" like him. From what she gathered, he had really enjoyed teaching at Hogwarts, but had not been able to secure employment since then due to widespread knowledge about his condition.
Later as the members were leaving Grimmauld Place together in small groups, Tonks, embolden by her intoxicated state, impulsively invited Remus to dinner the following Sunday. The look of disbelief on his face sobered her foolish mind like a douse of icy water. What on earth was she thinking, putting him in such an uncomfortable position?! He was no doubt struggling to devise a polite excuse of refusal, judging by his silence.
Just as Tonks began apologising, Remus replied quietly, "I'd love that."
Halting mid-apology, it took her a few moments to realise he'd just accepted her ridiculous offer. Rather dumbfounded, she hurriedly tried to regain control of the situation by rambling on about how she was going to need Molly's speciality advice on cooking (since her own culinary skills were limited). Remus laughed and said he'd be happy to come over early and help her prepare the meal.
Tonks could hardly sleep at all that night, her heart and mind racing over whether she'd made a huge mistake in asking Remus on a date, or if it would turn out to be one of the best decisions of her life. Or possibly somewhere in between.
She didn't really see their age difference as much of a problem, but perhaps it might concern him more than her. If things didn't work out, she believed Remus would keep things affable, but Order meetings could nevertheless be awkward. And if things did work out, she'd need to accept that not all her friends and family might be pleased about the match. After all, misconceptions about werewolves still prevailed, illustrated all too plainly by the modest social contact Remus seemed to have outside of his work with the Order.
She'd finally fallen asleep in the early morning, only to awaken with a jolt to her hungry cat pawing her face. Jumping out of bed (and sending her disgruntled cat flying) she dressed as fast as humanely possible and rushed out the door to make her way to work. She wondered what Scrimgeour would say if she explained she was late because thoughts of Remus Lupin made her forget to set her alarm clock last night!
John Dawlish's sneering voice roused Tonks out of her reverie. "How was your meeting with Scrimgeour, Nymphadora?"
Resisting the urge to snap at him, she took a deep breath before replying brightly, "Great, thank you John! And how are you enjoying your new promotion?" The Minister of Magic had recently seen fit to make Dawlish his personal bodyguard, a position which made the normal long working hours of an Auror seem reasonable in comparison.
Dawlish made a polite reply, but Tonks was satisfied to see the smirk had been wiped off his face. Looking down at her own cluttered desk, she resolved to put Remus out of her mind for the rest of the day. She decided that there was no benefit in examining every implication of their potential future, or worrying about possibilities that may or may not come to pass.
Instead, she would just take things one step at a time, and enjoy the experience of embarking on a promising new relationship.