The note on the troll leg is dedicated to pet-munchkin. Hope you like it D
Discl.: The back of my hand does still hurt very much, so I reckon I won't tell lies for some time now. But be sure I'll be back with ridiculous disclaimers when you least expect it! evillaugh I don't own HP or anything for that matter, but this time I DO OWN THE HEADLINE!!
AND: I'm terribly sorry, but as this is an idea out of my head, I found myself in desperate need to invent an own character. I originally wrote it, completely from beginning to end, and then I remembered that Trelwany did NOT teach Remus & Co. thankfully I finally DID remember… oh the disgrace.. it'd have been horrible…
Prediction
It was late afternoon when Remus Lupin descended the stairs at #12 Grimmauld Place. He had been on duty the past night up until noon and had felt like taking a shower in order to relax his sore muscles. He yawned hugely and as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs, he noticed the troll's leg umbrella stand having been decorated with an exaggerated flag, featuring the letters:
"CAUTION! EVIL UMBRELLA STAND. MAY ATTACK INNOCENT AURORS. ESP. THE CLUMSY ONES!"
Remus rolled his eyes. This was obviously Sirius' attempt to tease Tonks, seeing she was the only one to stumble over the crude piece of furniture, on a daily basis. Remus shook his head somewhat disbelievingly and turned right, heading straight for the door to the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he heard a noise coming out of the room behind the door. Remus listened closely. It sounded like someone was crying in there. A second later he relaxed, putting his hand on the doorknob. It was laughing. He had mistaken someone's gasp for air for crying.
Somewhat relieved he opened the door and entered the kitchen. He was only partly astounded to find his best mate and his best mate's cousin sitting on the floor, opposite each other, cross-legged and howling with laughter.
"Wotcher Remus!" Tonks greeted through heavy breaths, while Sirius just continued rubbing mirth from his eyes.
"Good afternoon, Nymphadora." Remus smiled happily. "Hello Sirius."
He was always happy to see Tonks stopping by. Firstly, because it really seemed to cheer Sirius up a whole lot and secondly because he was selfish. It cheered him up a lot, too. She seemed to be some sort of light in the black darkness of the house.
Now she was mock-scowling at him for using her loathed first name. He loved it when she pretended to be cross with him. He also loved teasing her. That led him to the conclusion that...
Nevermind. he thought.
"Having fun?" he grinned at Tonks rather than Sirius. Who totally noticed this, of course.
"Sirius just told me the weirdest prediction he ever got in Divination." Tonks explained and promptly started laughing again. He also loved to see her laugh, which she did quite often fortunately.
"The one where Professor Rockworm was under the impression that you were going to be strangled by a tall man with a crown?" Remus offered, pouring himself a cup of tea and joining the little circle on the floor.
Sirius chuckled. "Yes. But after all she was right." he continued. "Remember when later that year James got all worked up about Lily kicking his arse for having his fun with Snivellus? I told him he should just forget Lily and he took it so personally that he tried to murder me with his Quidditch robes."
Remus laughed. "I remember that, indeed."
Tonks turned towards him and fixed him with her gaze. "What was your weirdest prediction?" she asked, her beautiful dark eyes sparkling with amusement.
Remus honestly thought for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed out loud. After a minute or so, when he had calmed down a bit, he faced his audience. "It was rather amusing, but not that worth a laugh."
"Oh, really? I never expected that." Sirius countered sarcastically. Leaning his head into his palm, his elbow resting on one of his knees.
Tonks eyebrows raised questioningly, silently pleading for him tell his story.
Remus smiled kindly at her, giving her stomach a chance to turn over yet again. "I reckon it was in our third year. It was may and really really hot that day. We actually had to crystal gaze, and when she came round on Peter and me - we shared a ball - she stopped and took a look herself. Well, she knew I am a Werewolf of course, she is staff member. Despite that, she began to whisper dramatically 'My poor poor boy. Something dark is threatening you constantly.' Well, that much was obvious."
There was a short silence. Tonks broke it. "That was all? Nothing more... weird?"
Remus chuckled softly. "Well, I was not finished yet. She was really sorry to tell me that I shall die a painful death. She told me I was going to get drowned by a broom. Quite some humor, that woman."
Tonks snorted. Remus smiked at her. That lopsided marauder smirk. "What? Don't you think that's weird enough? Let me tell you that in my fifth year I almost drowned in the lake... After one of the rare occasions Sirius and James had actually succeeded in persuading me onto a broom. I fell off, of course, unfortunately I had been flying above the lake at that particular moment."
"Bollocks!" Tonks exclaimed. "Mine's better!"
And she took her time to rearrange her legs, steal a sip of tea from Remus' mug and turn her hair from previous orange to pink once more.
Remus and Sirius stared at her, growing impatience written on the latter's face, while the werewolf absently traced the rim of his mug where Tonks had situated her mouth to drink.
She looked at Sirius, pleased to see him becoming annoyed with her, and finally locked eyes with Remus, feeling her insides squirm about pleasantly.
"It was my third year at Hogwarts. I guess that Rockworms predictions don't really get less weird over the years, more likely the students get accustomed to them. So, I conclude, my first was definitely my weirdest one. She had already predicted death to my fellow student – bloody Sphere Bully – so for me she had to think up something really new." Tonks started fiddling with a lose thread from a hole in her jeans' knee, wondering if the two men would be able to see the funny side of it, or if Remus would get all sensitive about it.
She took a deep breath and continued. "She looked at my teacup – you know that she always started with them – and then said in a mysterious voice" Tonks actually morphed into a frightening close imitation of Professor Rockworm (shoulder length brown afro and a monocle) and spoke with a husky voice "'You shall fall over the Yeti...'"
Remus and Sirius stared at her, flabbergasted. Tonks looked anxiously from one to the other. Was it funny rather than crappy? After what seemed like an eternity of staring and holding one's breath, Remus and Sirius burst out laughing. Tonks felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she was so relieved.
While Tonks joined in their laughter and changed back into her pink self – Sirius had already collapsed onto the floor, frantically clutching his side – Remus gasped for air and when he had finally gotten some oxygen into his lungs, he spoke, every word dripping with amusement.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard..." he smiled at her, making a shiver quite pleasantly run down her spine. "You win."
Tonks tried to smile back and succeeded to some extend, making Remus shiver in return. When Sirius had finally regained his composure, Tonks hopped to her feet and made for the door. Sirius watched her amusedly, stopping her right before she put her hand on the doorknob.
"Yeah, hilarious, since you are always falling over everything..." Sirius remarked dryly.
"Git." she said over her shoulder.
"Where're you going, Tonks?" Sirius asked suspiciously, turning Remus' attention towards her in the process.
Tonks tried to think quickly. "I've got... to write a report for Mad-Eye. I'm behind already... need to get it finished..."
Sirius looked slightly disappointed but shrugged. Remus did not believe a word. He watched Tonks open the kitchen door. Watched her stepping over the threshold into the dark corridor behind it. Watched her figure being swallowed by the darkness and the door shut with a gentle thud behind her.
Remus' gaze fixed the closed door, while his eyebrows raised slowly. As a result, Sirius raised an eyebrow of his at Remus. "What?" Sirius asked finally, curiosity getting the better of him.
"She did have only one Order duty this week and that was with me. We finished the report three days ago..." Remus explained slowly.
"So she thinks she has a reason to run away from us?" Sirius asked, his forehead crinkling in thought.
Remus stood up from the floor. "Well, I intend to find out." He headed towards the kitchen door and was already out of the room when Sirius opened his mouth, eyes wide, having just been enlightened.
But hearing his friend climb the few steps into the hall, a grin formed on Sirius face, clearly predicting him being up to no good.
Remus caught up with Tonks in the hall. She stood beside the staircase, scratching the back of her head and turning around when she heard Remus come.
She immediately reached for her Auror robes, but Remus was quicker. He seized the robes and pulled them away from her hands, leaning against the wall and supplying an annoyingly smug grin on his face.
Tonks sighed. "Can I have my robes back, please?"
"You don't have any reports to write." Remus' statement was simple and clear. Tonks eyes flashed towards the floor between them and she began biting her lower lip. Remus' smile grew.
"Well... I gotta go, anyway." she mumbled under her breath.
Remus leaned into her, his grin ever growing if possible. "Excuse me?"
"I gotta go." Tonks repeated nervously, still regarding the carpet on the floor.
"You know, I become very hairy once a month..."
It was a whisper, barely audible, and yet it hit her full force, as if Remus had been shouting it into her ear - with a megaphone.
Tonks' head snapped up, briefly locking hers with his eyes, before her stomach did a somersault and she stumbled backwards, her left foot catching the trolls leg - despite Sirius' kind warning - and she fell backwards onto the floor with a quiet "ouff!".
"Bugger!"
Her head was swimming, she could see little rainbow-coloured stars flying around her head. Had Remus just flirted with her?!
"Tonks!" Remus gasped and knelt down before her, grabbing her hands and pulling her up into a sitting position.
Her face was flushed, and she tried to avoid meeting his eyes. Remus felt sorry for making her fall. He had intended to catch her off guard, but definitely not wanted to throw her to the floor and hurt herself.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice tinged with worry.
She fixed her gaze on a particularly ugly spot of rug and answered in a - she honestly tried to sound cool - hoarse voice. "I want my bloody robes."
Remus smiled. With that said, she sounded more like a child than the tough Auror she was.
"I did not mean to scare you. I apologize." He smiled regretfully.
That brought Tonks' head up to his again, her face bearing an expression of worry. "It was not your fault! Just because I am too clumsy to take one sodding step back without making a fool of myself..."
"Nymphadora... " Remus searched for the right words, while she scowled at him again. "You're not making a fool out of yourself." She rolled her eyes. "No, listen. You may be clumsy, but I rather like the fact that you're not perfect. And don't you listen to Sirius, he's just teasing."
Tonks was already smiling again. "As if I'd listen to Sirius, I ask you."
A few minutes they crouched on the floor, an awkward silence settling between them. Tonks was again fiddling with her jeans-thread, her heart pounding more rapidly against her chest. Remus watched her face, rather enjoying it while he would already be blushing and avoiding her gaze had she caught him in the act. After what seemed like quite a long time – the darkness of the hall pressing heavily down on them – Tonks opened her mouth and spoke.
"You know, that was what I was thinking some time after we met."
Remus looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… 'Yeti' how far fetched is that?… when Sirius told me that you are a werewolf, this really struck me. As it proves, predictions, even if weird and ridiculous the moment you hear them, are often true. I know it sounds like a fair bit of bollocks, but after all it's most often proven right…" Tonks hesitated before continuing. "What d'you reckon, how close will I ever be to a Yeti?" She snorted. "One that I'm attracted to…" The last bit came out as a whisper, barely audible, but Remus heard her anyway.
"So… Rockworms prediction came true after all?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer and neither knowing if he'd rather it positive or negative.
His stomach clenched almost painfully and the seconds seemed to be lenghtening again. Finally, Tonks glanced into his eyes and nodded. "Yes."
Remus reply was instant. He didn't even know what he was doing when he felt her soft warm lips on his. Obviously, he had leant forward towards her, placing his right hand at the back of her neck to support her, had drawn her body even closer to his by circling her waist with his left arm.
Tonks was completely caught off-guard for the second time that night. After shaking herself out of her stupor, she began to respond.
The prediction had been right after all: She had fallen for a hairy man.
I. Can't. Believe. It.
That was total rubbish and if you can actually read this on the web, it proves that I'm either very brave or very pathetic. You decide. And no: I'm not fishing for compliments.
I hope you got the hint with James as the man with the crown. I wanted to be referring to prongs with his antler.
I must go: another detention with Umbridge…" I must not write rubbish". Sodding old hag.