Hi there :) This the first chapter of my Tonks/Remus story. It's not AU but their relationship plays out differently to how it does in the books. I've had this idea in my head for a long time (They're my favourite characters) The story is in the Drama category but a lot of it is light humoured and I really hope you like it. I'll shut up now. Chapter one.

Remus Lupin slowly turned another yellowing page of the huge dusty volume sat open on his lap. He was sitting up straight in his bed, propped up by pillows and his face full of concentration. It was silent apart from the occasional rustle of a page turn or the gentle hoot of the owl that lived in the tree outside his bedroom window. He turned another page. The sky outside was an inky black and the only source of light was from the oil lamp on his parchment-strewn bedside table, casting an orange glow on the messy room around him.

He was dressed only in his pyjama bottoms; the corresponding T-shirt was lost in the piles of books, parchment and bottles that littered the floor. The walls were lined with shelves that reached the ceiling, mostly occupied by books with the occasional framed photo. Remus looked up from his book and found himself staring fondly at these for a while. There was one of his parents, one of him holding Harry as a baby, one of himself during his Hogwarts year surrounded by fellow Gryffindors, One of himself as a young adult with his right arm around Lily and his left around James. He smiled in the dim light, he could remember that day as if it were yesterday…

Crack

Remus sat up at once and looked around. He strained his ears, listening. He could have sworn he just heard…

Crunch

He was off his bed and on his feet in a split second, his wand clasped in his right hand. His heart was beating quickly. There was something unnerving about the night when you live on your own, just outside of the village... That was it. He could definitely hear footsteps now, coming from outside his house. He could tell that the treader was taking extra care to be quiet.

Slowly and carefully he began to walk towards his bedroom door and out into his living room. He could hear the steps getting louder and faster so he too quickened his pace. He strode quickly through the living room and broke into a jog across the kitchen floor, his bare feet sticking to the cold tiles. He heard the person break into a run; Remus reached for the door handle and threw it open. He could have sworn at that moment he heard a second crack.

Remus stood in the doorway, his wand aloft, shedding light across his bare chest and the muddy path leading to his door. He looked left and right but he saw nothing, he remained there for a few seconds staring right ahead of him, the cold night air stinging on his face. And at that moment he would have bet all his gold in Gringotts that whoever had just been creeping around outside his house, had just disapperated into the night.

'Stupid, Tonks! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Idiot, Stupid…'

Nymphadora Tonks was sat, leant against her flat door. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she was whispering, horrified into her hands.

'Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, What were you thinking?'

Her face was bright red and the colour slowly spread from her cheeks to the ends of her hair. Her heart was still pounding painfully in her chest and she prayed with ever fibre in her body that he hadn't seen her.

Perhaps I should explain. It was indeed Nymphadora Tonks who had been creeping outside Remus Lupin's door in the (very) early hours of the morning. But this was purely because she wanted to get back her broach, the tiny silver and black badger that was now clasped in her hand. It was a gift from her mother, from her very first year at Hogwarts when she had been sorted into Hufflepuff. And it meant a great deal to her.

'Stupid…Stupid…stupid' She was beginning to calm down now, at least she had stopped hyperventilating.

Tonks looked down and the glimmering badger in her hand. She had dropped this the first time she had stood outside that door. Whilst she was trying to gather the courage to knock it had fallen, unknowingly off her cloak. So she decided that to save embarrassment she would return at a time he was sure to be asleep and get it back, an idea that had (very almost) gone entirely to plan.

'…Stupid!' She finished. She got up slowly and trying not to think of what she would have done if he'd caught her crouching outside his door, she began to pour herself some firewhiskey.

As the lurid orange liquid filled the glass, she looked around her kitchen. The sink was full of dishes but the sides were reasonably clear. The walls were covered with deep blue tiles and the wooden cabinets contained stacks of battered cookbooks. There was a first aid kit open on the side, next to a pile of her most recent drawings.

'That… is the last time… I am ever, ever, going to that poor man's home.' She said to herself as she refilled her glass 'Ever.'

You may be thinking that this is a strange habit of Nymphadora's… I'll call her Tonks (she hates Nymphadora.) You may be thinking that it's a habit of hers to repeatedly hide outside people's doors and then run away. But Tonks had gone to Lupin's house the first time with the full intention of asking him out, until she lost her nerve and ran away.

Tonks' face flushed red as she remembered this idea. 'It was stupid.' She murmured to herself as she fell back onto her couch and closed her eyes.

'I am never… ever… going there again.'

Oh, how wrong she was.

Tonks sat at the table of Grimauld place for breakfast. Nothing put her in a good mood quite like Molly Weasley's cooking. She looked up from behind her copy of the Daily Profit when she heard the door open, but it was merely Hermione and Ron who entered, she was dreading the arrival of someone else.

'Anything interesting in there?' Sirius asked as he helped himself to toast, jerking his thumb at the newspaper

'No, Just the usual Bullshit' She replied automatically

'Tonks!' Mrs Weasley said, raising her eyebrows and looking towards her daughter.

'Oh! Sorry Molly.' She answered, throwing a wink at Ginny who giggled into her porridge.

At that moment, Mad-eye and Remus entered and Tonks suddenly became very interested in her bacon.

'Good morning!' Mrs Weasley beamed at them 'Sausages are just ready'

'You're far too good to me Molly' Smiled Remus, taking a place next to Sirius

'There you go' She put couple onto his plate, and then offered them to Mad-eye. 'Are you alright dear?' She asked Lupin 'You look shattered'

'Not surprised' Mad-eye growled, in between bites of sausage 'I'd be up all night too if somebody was trying to break into my house'

'What?' Sirius, Mrs and Mr Weasley exclaimed in unison.

Oh No. Tonks sunk lower beneath her paper until only the top of her pink hair was visible.

'Well I don't know for sure, but I swore I heard somebody apperating at… it must have been three in the morning and then I heard footsteps outside.' Mrs Weasley sat down, like everyone else; her full attention was on Remus 'I got out of bed and I heard them start running… by the time I got outside they'd disapperated again.'

There were gasps and murmurings at his. 'I really think you should take my advice Remus' Said Mad-eye gruffly 'Just a couple of protective spells…'

'No Alistor' Cut in Mr Weasley firmly 'No more biting bins, I have enough to deal with' – Mad-eye shrugged and murmured something that sounded like 'Your funeral' – Mr Weasley turned back to Lupin 'I think Dumbledore should hear about this.'

'Who do you think it was?' Asked Sirius

Oh no, no, no, no… Tonks pushed her fork onto the floor then ducked beneath the table to allow her flushed cheeks to fade. Judging by the two loud cracks and the shriek of indignation from Mrs Weasley; Fred and George had just apperated into the room. Thanking them silently for their distraction Tonks resurfaced to the table and returned to her breakfast. With her paper down Remus spotted her for the first time this morning.

'Morning Tonks' He said warmly. Her heart literally skipped a beat.

'Morning Remus' She smiled back 'You alright?'

'Yeah. I…' But he was interrupted by Mrs Weasley

'Tonks, would you be a dear and help these two…' She gestured at Fred and George who Groaned '…Clear out those pesky Doxy's in the upstairs living room?'

'Sure Molly, anything else I can…'

'Don't you smirk like that, you!' She was now talking to Ron. 'You and Hermione are clearing out your room ready for Harry on Saturday… and Remus could you be a sweetheart? We have another…'

'Boggart' He finished for her, smiling 'No problem Molly.' She beamed at them all.

Fred and George had already grabbed some toast and left the room so Tonks and Remus finished off quickly then got up and walked out into the hall. On the first stride she took, Tonks tripped and fell headlong towards the stairs, until she felt a warm, strong arm wrap quickly around her middle, catching her before she hit the floor. Tonks looked up and through her hair, saw a pair of Hazel eyes, boring into hers. She felt her tummy flip. They lingered, just for a fraction of a second before he pulled her up straight.

'Thank you!' She said breathlessly, tingling from head to toe 'Sorry! I'm so clumsy' He laughed kindly before saying 'I think that's how we met, remember? You fell on me'

Tonks gasped her hands over her mouth as she remembered. 'Oh my god, I did!' She laughed too 'I'd completely forgotten that'

'Come on Tonks!' Fred's face peered down from on the landing 'You can gossip all you like later, we're getting thrashed here!' She smiled again at Lupin and hurried up the stairs to help, completely unaware of his eyes following her from behind as she went.

It wasn't until she was squirting down Doxys and throwing them into a sack until it occurred to her that it was a strange thing for him to remember, how they met. Her face flushed with embarrassment, she must have made quite an impression.

'Ow!' Fred Yelled 'It bit me!' He shook his hand, a purple bite was appearing on his finger

George went over to inspect the damage closely. Tonks knew for a fact that they were investigating the effects of doxy venom for their Joke products, she also knew that the real reason Fred hadn't taken off his jacket wasn't because he was cold but because he was stashing Doxys inside it.

'mmm…It's not really swelling though is it?' Said George, inspecting the bite on Fred's finger

'You know…' Tonks said, in a mock casual voice. 'If somebody happened for some reason to want a Doxy bite to swell, they'd just have to add ginger root. It's painless and, of course, delicious.'

'Really?' Whispered George, a new respect for Tonks was growing visibly on his face

Tonks looked and them and winked. 'Don't tell your Mother.'

The twins watched her with adulation. Fred looked as if he could have kissed her.

Lupin leant back in his armchair later that evening. It had been an awful day. He was on guard duty with Zain who had been driving him up the wall.

Slasior Zain was one of Dumbledore's newest informers. He was a death eater, much like Igor Karkaroff, too cowardly to only support one side. He was arrogant, rude and unkind. Also Remus didn't trust him one bit. However, Dumbledore trusted him, which meant everybody else had to.

There was however, one part of his day that he didn't completely hate, just one moment that he played in his head over and over and over again. It was that split second when he had stopped Nymphadora before she fell. He had only stared into her eyes for half a second, but he'd felt something and whatever it was made his stomach twist into a knot inside him.

Lupin pushed the thought from his mind and tried to carry on the rest of his evening as usual, wearing a small smile that never left his face.

Tonks was finally reaching the end of the huge mountain of paperwork in front of her. The fake landscape outside her office window had fallen into night and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She yawned and leant backwards, looking over at Zain's desk on the other side of the room. It wasn't a big very office, it was just large enough to fit three desks in it. There was hers which was in the far corner, facing the door. There was Zain's, which was the one closest to the Door and Beth sat at the desk in-between them. It was late at night, Tonks and Beth were staying late trying to finish a mountain of pointless paperwork so they wouldn't have to come in on a Saturday.

The office was reasonably tidy; it seemed to get scruffier the closer you got to Tonks' desk. There was the occasional open file, book or dark-wizard catcher lying around. Many of these were gifts to her from Mad-eye Moody. He had been her Mentor throughout her training and she had always been his favourite. There was also a rusting caldron at the foot of her desk that she used as a waste paper bin. She looked at her friend who was snoozing peacefully, her head on her arms and her short, tousled brown hair over her face.

'Hey' Tonks said, screwing up a piece of paper and throwing it at Beth's head 'Sleeping Beauty!' She jerked awake.

'Who? Eh? What's happened?' She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands and turned round. 'What?' She said irritably 'I was sleeping.'

'I know' Said Tonks, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice 'How much do you have left to do?' Beth showed her the pile of files that she had been using as a pillow. Tonks stood up, picked up her remaining paperwork and added it to Beth's before picking up the lot and dropping it onto Zain's desk.

Beth gasped then burst out laughing 'Tonks! You bad girl, we can't do that!'

'Yes we can' Tonks said, grinning cheekily 'We'll tell him management put it there or something. Come on let's go get a drink.'

Beth picked up her cloak from the back of her chair 'He'd have his head stuck too far up his arse to notice anyway'

Tonks laughed with her friend as they made their way into the atrium and out into the streets of London.

'So, how's it going with the Remus guy?' Beth asked, ginning annoying at her as they began to walk towards the nearest pub.

'Please drop that! Nothing is happening, he's not interested.' Tonks glared at her best friend 'I should have never told you that I have a crush on him.'

'Wait…' She said, suddenly interested 'So you asked him out?'

'Well…no. Not exactly'

'Uh oh, What happened?'

Tonks explained the two disaster trips to Lupin's house and when she had finished Beth burst out into hysterics, barely managing to gasp the words 'Only you, Tonks' Before bursting out laughing again.

She was still laughing by the time they entered the pub. So Tonks ordered for them – 'Two firewhiskys, please'- and they took a seat. The pub was full of loud and happy people and was lit up much better than their office. Tonks spent the evening laughing and chatting with Beth and for the first time in a long time, she managed to clear Remus Lupin from her mind.

Thank you so much for reading! That was chapter one. I know not a lot happened but I was just introducing everything. The next chapters are very juicy (promise) Please, please leave a review. I don't care if you loved it or hated it! If you're a writer you'll know how important they are. Thanks again and until next time, take care, M xxx