Not my best and the title doesn't even match but I'm kinda depressed this week. So… here. This is for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Prompt #10.
Tonks poked her head into the room where Remus Lupin dozed in a half-state of pain from his transformation. His face was pale and his hands slowly clenched and unclenched on top of the covers. It seemed he barely managed to drag himself into his bed judging from the scratches on the floor and the knocked over chair.
"All right, Moon-moon?" she asked playfully, strolling in as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Moon-moon?" Remus asked quirking up an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Sirius calls you Moony," she said. "Anyway, thought a breakfast might lift your spirits. That old elf don't even cook."
Remus slowly looked down at the tray which had salty eggs over hard, burnt toast with old jelly, and what Tonks had assumed was an orange but was probably a grapefruit now that she thought about it.
"Spirits lifted," he chuckled.
The sound of it filled Tonks' stomach with butterflies. She had never dated in school. In fact, she always seemed to be stuck in the category of 'one of the guys'. She had plenty of crushes both birds and blokes but never acted on any of them. Especially when they gave her that look like she was more of a cute puppy or bunny rabbit than a potential girlfriend. Frankly, she hadn't thought she'd go for a man like Remus but the more time she spent with him the more she realized he was unbelievably clever, witty, and funny. He often told her tales of his pranking days at school and one story of him sending Sirius' bed into the Great Lake and pegging it on James had made her laugh so hard she nearly peed.
There were plenty of things she could've done to attract his attention or anybody else's for that matter. She could give herself silkier hair, bigger tits, poutier lips, made herself look like those celebrities in Witch Weekly. Instead, she defaulted to her own goofy nature.
"Oi, why the long face," she asked, stretching her face into a horse's head. Or a bit like one, full on transformations into animals were tricky.
"Just tired," said Remus eating the breakfast she brought him even though it tasted terrible. She knew because she had a plate before bringing him his.
"Oh, yeah," she said, smoothly leaning against one of the fancy chairs. Or… tried. She ended up catching her boot on her ankle and nearly face-planted the seat. Instead, she awkwardly half-stumbled forward so she was sitting down. "Right, um, well—" come on brain, think of things. Come on brain, think of things. "So, um, you never told me about teaching. Did you like it?"
"One of the better jobs I've had," he replied. "I must say, it was odd having to work alongside a man who hated my guts."
"Ol' Snapey hated everyone's guts," said Tonks with a laugh. "I swear, a bug crawled up his arse and started a family."
Remus smiled and that kept Tonks going. She wanted to keep it there. So, she pulled up an old prank she used in school that got points taken from Hufflepuff all the time; her hair went from perky pink to greasy black and she stretched her nose so that it was pronounced and beaky. She also made her cheeks sallow and drew herself up with a snobby demeanor. The werewolf across from her made a choking noise in the back of his throat.
"I am Snape, the potions master," she said, deepening her voice as much as she could. "I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, flambé excellence, sauté knowledge, bake power, and even put a stopper in death. Today, I will show you a potion so deadly, not even I use it: Shampoo."
By that point, she had Remus howling with laughter. Tonks shook off the transformation and beamed.
"No more," he wheezed. "Please, no more."
"Thought you might like that one," she said. "Had to be careful with that one. Almost took away points from Gryffindor for real when I was mucking about in class one day. Charlie got a real kick out of it."
"Ah, were you and Charlie ever…?"
"A thing?" Tonks finished. "No. We weren't."
There was one point… both were in their seventh year and had never kissed anyone so they just got it out of the way. She felt no sparks and Charlie seemed a bit repulsed and both decided they would never speak of it ever, ever, ever again. It was laughably horrible and they did laugh over it. After that, they parted ways and he went to study dragons and she became an Auror.
"I haven't dated much," she continued, scooting her chair closer. It made a grating sound across the floor probably causing damage to the wooden floor. Not that it was in the best shape to begin with. "Probably never found the right bloke."
A touch of red colored Remus' cheeks.
"Certainly you'd find someone young and lively like yourself," he said evasively.
"I think I'm crazy enough," said Tonks. "Perhaps I'd find my match in someone a bit more quiet. Funny, yet calm."
"Er- I-I…" Remus worked his jaw a few minutes and cleared his throat. "I'm a bit tired now, I think I need a bit of sleep."
Tonks felt her hair droop and from the bit of fringe that fell in her eyes she could tell that her hair had turned a mousy brown. Damn her emotions affecting her appearance! Ugh, stupid!
"Right," she said shortly. "Well, I'd better go see if Molly needs any help." She stood up knocking the chair back and took both plates. Her feet thudded heavily all the way down to the kitchen where Molly Weasley was engrossed in a book. Tonks tripped on nothing and broke both plates.
"Dammit!" she cried.
"Tonks?" Molly shouted leaping to her feet and clearing the mess with a wave of her wand. "What's the matter?" The young witch had never stressed over breaking plates before.
"It's nothing," said Tonks quickly. "It doesn't matter."
"Why don't I make a pot of tea and you can tell me all about the nothing that doesn't matter," said Mrs. Weasley calmly.
Tonks couldn't help but smile. Even if her own mother couldn't be there, she at least had a surrogate in Molly Weasley. That woman would adopt anyone and anything her maternal instinct was so strong. Tonks admired that fierce loving so she sat down and poured her heart out.
"Well," said Mrs. Weasley. "You must understand that Remus lives in a world where he is hated by everyone. He grew up believing that he is a monster. He just needs someone to show him that they'll love him whether he likes it or not."
"Yeah… yeah!" said Tonks, feeling a new fire. "If he doesn't want to date me then it better be for a reason that isn't about him."
Tonks was determined to make him see that she didn't care about his lycanthropy. That she loved him for who he was. It'd be difficult, but Nymphadora Tonks was no quitter.