Dancing in the Dark
A Harry Potter fanfiction by Eowyn Shadeslayer
Chapter 1: Getting to Know
The first time Remus Lupin laid eyes on Nymphadora Tonks, she was on the floor.
The shrill screams of Sirius' mother brought him out into the hall. It was a well known fact that the longer Mrs. Black screamed, the harder it was to shut her up. Sirius raced for the portrait, wand out and hair flying. Remus went to help the girl who was lying on the floor, next to the knocked over umbrella stand. She was cursing fluently, trying to get the troll leg off of the toe of her boot. Finally, she yanked out her wand and managed to levitate it off of her.
"Here." Remus offered her his hand. She took it and stood up, flicking her wand in the general direction of the umbrella stand. It fell to the ground with a loud CRASH! Mrs. Black's screams redoubled.
The girl clapped her hands over her ears. "Horrible old biddy!"
Mrs. Black fell suddenly silent. Obviously, Sirius had managed to pull the curtain back over her.
The girl sighed. "Thank goodness. I've never heard a more terrible racket in all my life!"
Remus took a good look at the girl. She was younger than he was, in her early twenties, with a pale, heart shaped face, short, spiky purple hair, and a friendly grin. She wasn't wearing robes; instead, she wore faded blue jeans, a black T-shirt with a lime green logo, and a pair of dramatic, dangling earrings.
Sirius approached them with a grin. His longish black hair hung over his face in a casual way that none of his friends had ever been able to pull of. It accentuated his aristocratic features.
"Hey, Dora," he said. "Mad-Eye told me you'd be coming. Remus, this is…well, my cousin Andie's daughter, Nymph—"
"Don't you dare, Sirius," the girl said, giving him a glare.
"--Nymphadora Tonks. Dora, my friend, Remus Lupin."
Nymphadora—Such a pretty name! Whyever is she ashamed of it?—stuck out a hand. "You can call me Tonks," she said. "I can't imagine what Mam was thinking when she called me Nymphadora."
Remus shook her hand. "Nice to meet you…err…Tonks."
"And you. May I call you Remus?"
"Sure." Remus wasn't quite sure how to take her brightness. He settled for giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile as she chattered all the way back to the kitchen.
"I'm here for the meeting tonight. My first assignment for the Order, actually, since Mad-Eye—you do know Mad-Eye, don't you?—since Mad-Eye didn't think I was ready, even though I tried to tell him I was a fully accredited Auror. He kept saying I was too young. What sort of music do you like?"
The question caught him off guard. "Err…I never really thought about it before. Why?"
Tonks gazed at him incredulously. "Never thought about it before?"
Sirius grinned. "Coz, he doesn't exactly think about things like that. He's got serious things in his head."
Remus felt himself flush. Thank you, Sirius. Make me look like a dry old stick, why don't you? "I'm not always serious."
"No, you aren't. He is," Tonks quipped, jerking her chin toward Sirius, who continued to smirk.
"Very funny, Cousin, but I'd stow the jokes if I were you. Mad-Eye wont want to hear them," he said.
Tonks sighed. "Yes, I know." She took an awkward step and her foot caught on the doorframe of the kitchen. She stumbled. Remus reached out and took her arm, steadying her.
"Easy," he said.
"Sorry." She smiled up at him. "I'm dead clumsy. Mam always said I'd break my own head if I wasn't carrying something to smash."
Sirius snickered. "She got that right."
They sat down at the kitchen table to wait for the rest of the Order. Tonks leaned toward Remus, her eyes sparkling. "So…I know you're name, but I don't know anything about you. Tell me something about you."
That threw him. Something about him? That I turn into a bloody beast every full moon? That I live in a dump because I can't get work? What do you want to hear?
"Answer the question, Moony," Sirius said. "Tell her about yourself."
He looked at her, at her eager dark eyes, and said, "I'm…a teacher, aged thirty-five, currently unemployed and on assignment for the Order of the Pheonix." There. Safe answer.
Tonks continued to grin. Looking from her to Sirius, he could see the resemblance. He knew that Andromeda Black had bucked tradition and married a Muggleborn, but he hadn't known she had a daughter.
"Well, Remus Lupin, teacher, aged thirty five, I'm a junior Auror, aged twenty-four, employed and on assignment, likes rock concerts and adventure. Currently searching for blah, blah, blah. Say something that doesn't sound like it came out of a Daily Prophet Personals ad. What do you like? What do you do?"
Why does she have to be so…so… difficult? "Er… I read."
She nodded. "You like to read. Better. What do you like to read? History texts?"
He knew he was flushing again. Her talent for catching him off guard was astonishing. "I read…everything. Anything, really. Spellbooks, history, novels…anything."
"Ah." Tonks leaned in some more. "I don't read much. Mostly novels and spellbooks. I prefer to do things, instead of reading about them."
She leaned back, smiling. "And now I know something about you. You're very well read, you have blue eyes, and you're a little shy."
Remus' face grew even hotter.