I remember I had started this in late 2005 or maybe early 2006. God, time flies.
Anyways - I was going through my old (read: more than a year old) works in progress, and found this one that was actually finished! I fixed a couple of thingies here and there and I present it to you.
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling; the rest is mine.
Thankies to Cath for the encouragement, since it's been a really, really long time since I posted anything. :)
I hope you enjoy. Comments of any nature (even on typos!) are welcome and encouraged. I accept both signed and anonymous reviews.
Click, click, click. Screech. Tap, tap, tap, tap CRASH!
"You filthy blood-traitors, half-breeds..."
Remus rolled his eyes at the noises coming from the corridor. He made to get up and go silence Mrs Black, but he heard Sirius rushing down the staircase to do it himself. Her shrieking soon stopped, but Remus found himself unable to tune out of the conversation that began taking place between his friend and the new arrival.
"Hey, Tonks! Making your presence heard, I see."
Ah, so it was the young Auror who had caused this mayhem. Made sense.
"Ha, ha."
"What brings you here?"
"I wasn't in the mood to stay home. Thought I'd find some company here. Are you alone?"
"No, Remus is here too."
"That old classmate of yours, right? With the graying brown hair?"
Remus was surprised to note that the word 'werewolf' was nowhere in her description.
"Yeah, him. Why don't you go see if he'd like some company? Although, knowing him, he's probably lost in some book or other."
"I wouldn't want to disturb him... What about you? Are you busy?"
"Actually, I was thinking about taking a bath. I was just cleaning up Buckbeak's droppings."
"I thought you smelled funny."
"Well, Remus is in the drawing room, in case you want to join him. Make yourself comfortable, just don't wake up my mother again."
Remus returned his attention to his book as the sound of footsteps made its way to the door of the drawing room. A perky, fuchsia-haired head appeared in the doorframe.
"Wotcher, Remus! You don't mind me calling you Remus, right?"
"Sure not," he said idly, looking up with a slight jerk of the head.
"Can I sit here with you?"
"Help yourself."
He pretended to return to his book, but couldn't help watching her with the corner of his eye as she walked in, dressed in a bright green Muggle top, blue jeans and colourful sneakers. She was... loud, in all aspects. The first thought that had crossed Remus's mind upon seeing her, was that this was a girl that could never go unnoticed. Whether that was because of her styling choices, her wit, her perkiness or her destructive clumsiness, though, he couldn't tell for sure.
"What are you reading?" she asked, once she made herself comfortable in an armchair opposite him.
"The Social Consequences of Stereotypes."
"Sounds boring."
"Not at all! It deals with the stereotypes in the wizarding society, how they survive through the ages, how they often affect our political, economical and educational systems..."
"Sounds boring," she repeated. She got up and walked to the bookcase. "There are much more interesting books here," she said, running one finger over the spines of the leather-bound books. "What about The Mind-Boggling Book of Mythical Beasts?"
"I've read it."
"The Haunted House of Harney?"
"That too."
"Joyful Jinxes and their Hilarious Results?"
"Tonks, thank you very much, but I'm enjoying my book."
She scowled at him and returned to her armchair. She crossed her legs and fixed her eyes on him. Remus eyed her back with narrowed eyes; he didn't like that gleam of mischief in her eyes. Eventually, though, he decided there was nothing else to do but return to his book.
Several minutes passed in silence. Remus kept reading, despite the annoying feeling that he was being watched. Every time he caught a glimpse at her, though, he found her staring at anything but him, usually the ceiling, stretched in her armchair, legs kicking the air.
Just at the moment he had managed to get absorbed in his book again, he was jolted away from it by a tickling feeling at his feet.
He looked at the floor. Two white bunnies were resting near his bare feet. One of them made to nibble at his big toe; he yelped and hastily withdrew his legs, pulling himself entirely on the couch. The book slipped from his hands and fell on the floor. He looked at Tonks; she was grinning widely, like a Cheshire cat.
He quickly made to retrieve the book, because the bunnies were eyeing its pages hungrily. Then, he was free to focus on the impish girl sitting across him.
"Where are my slippers?"
"There they are," she said brassily, pointing at the bunnies. His stern look was not fazing her at all.
"Why did you turn them into bunnies?"
"Because I was bored."
"And you have to turn my slippers into bunnies to amuse yourself? How old are you, three?"
The smile was instantly wiped from her face; she pressed her lips tight together and crossed her arms over her chest before responding, "If I were three, I wouldn't know how to transfigure slippers."
"Age doesn't only show in one's skills, but also in the ability to interact with other people."
"I can't interact with someone who's only interested in books," she retorted and left the room without throwing a second look at him. Remus stayed in place, staring at the door, more annoyed than he had felt in a long time.
The voices from the corridor were lost on him, as his mind was focused on sulking. A while later, Sirius's entrance in the room startled him away from his thoughts.
"What did you do to Tonks?" he demanded from his friend. His long, unkempt black hair was still dripping.
"She Transfigured my slippers into bunnies!" Remus protested, pointing at the bunnies playing about near his sofa. With a grimace of displeasure, he pulled out his wand and turned them back to their previous state, then proceeded to wear them, leaving a sigh of relief.
"And that's a reason for her to leave the house in a huff, saying you're an unsociable git?"
He blinked. "I didn't...! She... My slippers!"
Sirius glared at him. "You've lost your sense of humour, d'you know that?"
"...That wasn't funny!"
"Fine, if you think so. I think there's a book waiting for you."
With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving Remus truly befuddled.
Surely, it all couldn't have been such a big deal? He had been reading – it always annoyed him when people distracted him while he was reading. Wouldn't anyone be annoyed if they were trying to do something and somebody distracted them?
Then again, it might not have been too polite of him to keep reading with a guest in the house.
He sighed.
Maybe he'd have to apologize to her. It wouldn't be nice to be in bad terms with a fellow Order member. Not that she seemed the type to hold a grudge, but still.
He thought back to how he had spoken to her.
How old are you, three?
He winced. That had been really rude. He hadn't realized just how offensive he was being at that moment. No wonder she got so angry.
He looked at his beige slippers, and recalled the moment he was sitting there, looking down expecting to see them, and saw two white bunnies instead. He tried to imagine what he must have looked like at that moment.
And he laughed.