Okay, I should be working on my chapter story Cool (I would be a happy fic writer if you checked that out!), but this idea for fluff just came into my head and I just really wanted to write it.

Of Late Night Flirtings And Dancing The Night Away


Tonks sighed. It had been a long hard day at the Ministry, and all she wanted to do was draw up a long, relaxing bath, soak in it for a while, then head of to bed.

However, there was a more appealing prospect on the cards, and it was a lot more satisfying than a comforting, aromathetic time in the bath.

The more appealing prospect was of course, her deranged cousin's best friend, and the object of her affection. He was the one and only Remus Lupin.

He had been the object of her affection for quite a while now. She had been certain that there had always been something between them, ever since she caught his eye at the end of the very first Order meeting that she had attended, and he smiled at her, and she felt a small flutter in her stomach. She had though at first that he was alright-looking, a little shabby perhaps, but he had just seemed like an ordinary person that she hadn't really thought of. He hadn't laughed when she made a fool of herself when she introduced herself to the Order, or when she had tripped on the way back, knocking over a few dozen silver goblets on her way down to the hard, stone floor.

She had spoken to him a few times after that, but it was nothing serious, just a few words over a drink with Sirius.

But for quite a while now, she had realised that her feelings for him were not just friendly. His lopsided smile that took years off his face always made her insides turn a back flip, and when he directed that smile at her, she felt as if she could melt into floor.

Her list of things that were just perfect about him went on forever. He treated her like a proper person, instead of the clumsy klutz she was. He always smiled when she told a joke, and he never said a bad word about anyone. He made her feel special inside, and she knew that her feelings for him were not mutual.

She had often stayed up late with Remus, while drinking a cup of cocoa, and they just chatted. They never seemed to run out of conversation, and she savoured the moments when their knees brushed underneath the table, or when they kept their eyes locked together for just a second longer than what they should have.

She had had a small suspicion that Remus had also liked her back, in a way that made her daydream of snogging him senseless against walls and doorframes, and other things that were too naughty to think about in other people's presence.

Her late night flirtings with Remus had become a somewhat major part of her life now; she looked forward to them, sometimes they were all that kept her going. The Ministry was being so ignorant these days, and it was hard enough being in the Order, worrying about missions and being caught by the Ministry. Cornelius Fudge already suspected her of illegitimate activity, and she had to keep her head down. She got so stressed sometimes, and it was often the case that the only think that stopped her from just quitting everything was knowing that later that night, she could be in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, with Remus, flirting and talking while the night flew by.

Tonight, she knew that Remus was planning on staying at Grimmauld Place, because she overheard him this morning telling Sirius that he wanted to stay there tonight.

Where was he? She had been waiting for what seemed like hours, and he hadn't arrived yet. What if something had happened to him? What if he had been attacked, or worse…?

She would let herself think such atrociousness. He was a perfectly capable adult, and an extremely talented wizard. And he had never said anything about what time he was going to be home…

Slam.

The door of Grimmauld Place slammed shut, and Remus Lupin burst into the dingy kitchen where Tonks was waiting. His hair was all over the place, and he was soaked to the bone.

''What on earth happened to you?'' she asked, bemused and curious as to what had happened to him.

''I was on a mission for the Order. It was not in anyway thrilling. Watching a deserted shack for five hours, alone, watching for a possible Death Eater who happened to stroll by? It was not my kind of fun,'' he replied.

''That still does not explain how you became so wet that your clothes are plastered to your skin,'' she said.

''Well, it started to rain around four hours ago. There was some kind of charm cast around the area I was in, blocking me from casting any kind of spell to stop the rain from falling on me,'' he explained.

''Merlin Remus! You must be frozen to death, or extremely ill!''

She flicked her wand at him, casting the best warming charm she could muster. He clothes suddenly seemed at lot dryer, as if they had been on a blazing fire all night.

''I rather think I deserve some cocoa. Would you care for some?'' Remus asked.

''Sure,'' Tonks replied. She knew what was coming next. They would sit down, and talk over their cocoa, flirting while Sirius occasionally stumbled in, blind drunk, muttering about anyone or anything. But she had a feeling that something special might happen tonight, something that spark of something to heighten their relationship.

As she was musing about what could happen, there was almighty crash, and a feebly stirring body was lying on the hard stone floor of the kitchen.

''Mooooony,'' Sirius cried. ''I want to dance.''

''Dance?'' Asked Remus, looking baffled. ''Why would you want to dance?''

''Casey Jones,'' he sniffed mournfully.

''Casey Jones? Wasn't she that Hufflepuff Keeper that you went out with in out fifth year?'' Remus asked, looking more confused than ever. Tonks thought that it made him look adorably cute, and all she wanted to do was reach over and ruffle his hair.

''We used to dance to this song…'' Sirius explained, although he was not really accessing his point very well.

''Sirius,'' said Remus sternly. ''You are inordinately drunk, and I am afraid that it is time for bed.''

''No, Moony! I need to dance!'' Sirius replied, now standing up, and leaning on a cupboard for support.

''Now Sirius, I think we'd better go,'' said Remus calmly. He stood up, and grabbed Sirius' wrists. To Remus' great surprise, Sirius grabbed Remus' hands, and propelled him round the small kitchen.

Due to the stunned look on Remus' face, and the fact that they had knocked nearly every item of furniture in the room, Tonks found herself laughing so hard she had to lean on the table for support.

Sirius threw Remus on the nearest chair and immediately grabbed Tonks' hands. He whirled her round the room until she tripped over a stray goblet on the floor. Tonks ended up lying on the floor, unable to hoist herself up because her unstoppable laughter.

''Do you need a hand?'' Remus asked, holding out his hand for Tonks to hold.

She grabbed his hand, revelling in the fact that they had skin-to-skin contact. Their hands seemed to fit perfectly together, the way that their fingers slotted perfectly in between each other, and the way that they gently bumped into each other when he pulled her up sent shivers down her spine.

''Moony…'' Sirius whimpered. ''I think…I think…''

''Time for bed, I think,'' said Remus. He grabbed Sirius' arms, in what seemed like a well-practised manoeuvre, and he began to gently drag him across the kitchen, and upstairs.

Tonks could hear the soft thump, thump, thump of Remus' feet as he dragged Sirius up the stairs, and she could also hear Sirius emit the odd groan as he hit a step, or maybe just because he was inordinately drunk.

A few minutes later, Remus appeared in the kitchen, looking a little flustered.

He nervously smoothed out his hair, and flattened a crease on his shirt.

''Would you care to dance, Ms.Tonks?'' Remus asked?

He held out his hand, anxiously waiting for a reply.

Tonks grinned. ''Of course I would, Mr.Lupin.''

She extended her arm, and grabbed Remus' hand. Her insides tingled at his touch, and she could have sworn she saw a bright Marauder glint in his eyes.

At the flick of Remus' wand, wonderful classical music filled the room. It was slow and sweet, and although it was nothing like the ''noisy riff-raff music'' that she usually listened to, it rather suited her mood, and it perfectly suited the scenario of having to dance.

Remus pulled her in closer, and one hand was on her waist, and his other hand was curled into her hand. His fingers wove into hers as they started so slowly step around the room in time to the music.

They seemed to sway in perfect time to the music and-

CRASH

Tonks had tripped over some stray item on the floor, and she had fallen out of Remus' grasp, and onto the dingy floor of the kitchen in Grimmauld Place. There was no way that Remus could have caught her, and her mighty fall had even surprised herself.

''Are you alright?''

''Well, since the kindly gentleman is not helping this helpless, injured metamorphagus, I'm pretty content here on the floor.''

Remus smiled for a quick second; then extended his arm to help Tonks up. She grinned back, then grabbed his hand and hoisted herself up. However, on the way up, she tripped over her foot (or Remus' foot) and she crashed right into Remus' chest.

Her head was buried in her jumper, and she could smell his scent. His smell consisted of a mixture of old books, and fresh linen, and there was also a faint trace of cinnamon. It was one of the most delicious smells Tonks had ever smelt, and if she would have had her way, she could have stayed there, half in Remus' arms, half buried in his jumper, just relaxing and smelling this wondrous scent.

''Erm, Tonks? What exactly are you doing?'' Remus asked.

Remus' words had caused his chest to vibrate slightly, making Tonks jump out of her skin.

She took a small step back, releasing herself from Remus' soft grip, and she immediately missed the warmth from his hands that were gently wrapped around her waist.

''What were we doing around ten lifetimes ago?'' Remus asked, with a small lopsided grin on his face. It really took years off his face, Tonks thought.

''You offered me a dance,'' Tonks replied in a slightly husky voice.

''I believe I did,'' Remus replied, the grin on his face becoming larger.

He gave a small, lazy flick of his wand, and the classical music started up again. To be honest, Tonks had not realised it had stopped.

Remus took her hands into his own, curling his fingers against hers. He then gently slid one of his hands round Tonks' waist, and he slowly began to move his feet around the dingy kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

Remus' eyes seemed to be locked with hers, and Tonks noticed what a beautiful colour they were. At first she had assumed them to be grey, but she noticed that there were swirls of navy and sky blue, and with a trace of amber at the edges. They were also lined with a faint trace of green, and the effect was quite overwhelming. She felt as if she could stare into them forever. They were probably the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen in her life.

Remus and Tonks were not really dancing, more swaying gracefully in time to the music. Tonks was especially grateful for this, as anything faster than a snails pace and her trademark clumsiness would kick in, spoiling the effect of this beautiful moment between them.

Tonks was very pleased that she had only fallen over once, and she relished in the fact that she had managed to stay upright since.

Remus hand slowly lifted in the air, and began to gently spin around, causing Tonks to spin around with her hand holding on to Remus'.

For a few amazing seconds, she seemed to gracefully glide across the room, but then -

CRASH!

Tonks had tripped on the edge of a chair, which had sent her spinning in the opposite direction, which happened to be right towards Remus.

Remus managed to steady her, and they found that their faces were only centimetres apart.

Her heart was thudding so loud, Tonks could have sworn that Remus would have heard it. Her breathing seemed to be going at an irregular pace.

Tonks could see every shade of colour in Remus' eyes…

Tonks knew she had to kiss him.

Before she could lean in and close the gap between them, she was stopped by a pair of warm, slightly chapped lips on hers.

Every sense in Tonks' body seemed to be tingling. She slowly ran her hands up Remus' back, as he titled her head back slightly as he deepened the kiss.

As Remus wound his fingers in her hair, Tonks could feel herself turning into jelly.

She pressed herself closer into his body, and his lips were creating the most delightful tingling sensations on her lips.

''Moony! What the hell are you doing to my cousin?''

Sirius' voice ricocheted throughout the long kitchen, and Tonks and Remus separated themselves to wonder why someone would abolish such an extraordinary, romantic moment between them. Although, if you are dealing with someone as obnoxious as Sirius, Tonks thought, he always had to put a bit of a dampener on everything.

''How long had this been going on for?'' Sirius demanded, and Tonks would have been quite hurt if the man was not blind drunk and probably wouldn't remember this event in the morning.

''I do not know, I have not been timing,'' Remus replied, in a cool, customary manner.

A slightly smug smile appeared on Sirius' face, which turned into a sloppy, slavish grin.

''Moony! I didn't think you had it in you to do something like this. Well, don't let me interrupt you. And remember, always cast a silencing charm when you do the business, and don't forget to cast the contraception charm.''

Sirius shot a roguish wink in Remus' direction, before staggering out of the room and into the basement of Grimmauld Place.

Remus muttered something barely comprehensible, although it sounded something like ''git.'' He sighed, and turned to face Tonks.

''It is getting quite late,'' said Remus.

''I suppose,'' Tonks replied, slightly vaguely, her thoughts still on their kiss.

''I will see you in the Order meeting tomorrow,'' he said.

''Or perhaps before that,'' replied Tonks, trying and failing to suppress a smile.

''Maybe,'' Remus replied, also trying to restrain a smile.

Tonks truly wished that the two of them could stay up all night, talking (and perhaps kissing again), but then that thought stuck her.

It was the full moon in a few days time, and Remus was probably trying to get in as much rest as possible in the days leading up to the full moon.

She wanted to say something, but she knew that if she even tried to casually slip in the subject of lycanthropy, she would become the big-mouthed klutz she is and say the wrong thing and insult him.

She decided to leave it at that, and she settled for a small goodnight.

Remus leant over and placed a small, soft, sweet kiss on her lips, and left the room, humming a song to himself.

As soon as Remus had left, Tonks collapsed in the nearest chair, and she squealed into her hands.

She had kissed Remus Lupin. The same Remus Lupin who had, according to a (sober) Sirius, had been mooning over her for months now, and he had finally kissed her. Her, the clumsy tom-boy who never had the same style hair twice, and who was a danger to troll-leg umbrella stands everywhere. At first glance, Tonks thought that she would definitely not have been his type, never in a thousand years.

But maybe she was, after all.

She got up and left the kitchen, her minds still on kisses, flirting, and dancing the night away.


This story's bribe is Remus dances. You can choose between a slow dance, a waltz, or just swaying to the music ;)

Or if you'd prefer, you can have a salsa with Sirius ;)