Disclaimer: These characters rightfully belong to J.K. Rowling; I'm only borrowing them. ;-)
Even throughout the Order meeting, Remus knew they were up to no good. Sirius was restless, and Nymphadora had a mischievous gleam in her eye. His suspicions were only confirmed when the meeting was adjourned, and they moved quickly from the room. Following behind them, he watched as they rushed up the stairs into the parlor with something tucked under Tonks' arm. With people in a rush to leave, allowing him to be unnoticed, Remus carefully climbed the stairs and waited at the parlor door, not worried about being found out.
Inside the room, Tonks placed the wrapped object she held under her arm carefully (more carefully than she normally would had this not been a present for Sirius) on the coffee table. "Go on," she said, brightly, "Open it up." When she had arrived for the meeting, she had told Sirius that she had something for him. Feeling suspicious, yet intrigued, he held an opened hand out to her. With a devilish smile, she shook her head and told him that he would have to wait. Before he could argue, the meeting began. But now, he did not have to wait any longer. Reaching for the rather bulky object, he tore the paper off. However, when the object was revealed, he sat back, not bothering to hide the disappointment on his face.
"This is a really nice present," he lied, not sure of what the object was. It appeared to be a machine with several dials and many buttons. He could not help but muse it looked like a radio, but still like nothing he had ever seen before.
"It's a radio, but a radio muggles use!" Tonks exclaimed, confirming his thoughts, as she appeared not even be deterred by his reaction. "They have more network stations than us, and if you don't like what is being played by the different stations, like Celestina Warbeck, you can do this…" Outside in the hallway, Remus stepped closer to the doorway, trying to see the radio. Tonks made a grand gesture by hitting a button, which had a triangular symbol on it. Instantaneously a compartment in the radio popped open, making both Sirius and Remus start. Tonks, not bothered by it, reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, rectangular thing. Feeling excited, Sirius tried getting a better look at it but she moved to put it in the compartment.
Remus took another step forward, but seemingly not as discreet before, Tonks spun around at the sound of a floorboard creaking. Seeing Remus, a small smile appeared on her face. "Come in, Remus," she said, standing from her spot and went over to him. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand. "Come see what I got for Sirius," she added, and led him to the coffee table. Dropping his hand, she went back to the machine. She pushed the compartment door back in and pressed another button, but nothing happened.
"Maybe it's broken?" Sirius questioned, his face falling in disappointment.
Remus reached towards the radio, and pressed another button. "You may have forgotten to rewind the tape," he explained when Tonks and Sirius looked at him with wonder.
A buzzing sound came from the radio, and Sirius looked at it skeptically. "Are you sure it's not broken?" he asked.
Remus nodded. "Just give it a moment," he reassured his best friend. Finally, the buzzing sound came to a stop. "Now, press 'play' again, Tonks."
Doing a similar large gesture as before, Tonks pressed the button again. This time music came from the machine. For a moment, they stood listening to the music. But then, Tonks sprang to life. "Let's dance!" she exclaimed.
Not needing any convincing, Sirius began moving around the room, doing a weird jig and occasionally hopping onto the couches – his long hair flying around his face. Tonks glided around the room with a clumsy grace, her arms moving quickly about and threatening to hit anyone who got too close. On the other hand, Remus did not move. He didn't know how to dance and he felt content watching his friends (well, he still did not know what Tonks was to him). He considered slipping from the room, but before he could Tonks noticed him.
"Why are you not dancing?" she asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him close to her.
"I don't dance," he answered as she led the way, mimicking salsa dancers.
"You're dancing now," she argued, allowing herself to spinning under his arm.
"Don't be a spoil sport, Moony!" exclaimed Sirius, taking their free hands so they now formed a circle, and began spinning around. They spun around and around, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt (even Remus), until they broke apart. They teetered where they stood, dizzy from the spinning, before the regained their balance and began dancing again (Remus). They danced and danced, forgetting about the oncoming war, which lurked outside. They did not think about the months to follow, where their strength and friendship would be tested. They did not imagine the danger they could be potentially putting themselves in, although they did not typically think of that anyway.
Looking for an almost never ending distraction, they danced through two tape cassettes before Remus and Tonks collapsed of exhaustion onto the sofa next to one another. Sirius, on the other hand, still teemed with energy. "I am going to grab some butterbeers," he declared, "Do you want anything else?"
They both shook their heads. "If you're sure then," he said, with a large smile. He left the room, calling over his shoulder, "Don't start the next one without me!"
Waiting until Sirius was out of earshot, Remus turned to Tonks. "That was nice of you to bring Padfoot that radio," he said.
Tonks shrugged her shoulders. "It was no problem, really," she answered, humbly. "I just know he could with some cheering up, and I know music is always a good thing – it must be miserable to be cooped up here."
They were silent for a few moments before Remus spoke again. "How did you get the radio anyway?" he asked.
She hesitated. "I may have just taken it," she confessed, panicking, "But I don't think it will be missed, and it's for a good cause. At least, that's what I told myself. Just please don't tell Molly, you know she reacts when Dung tries to bring his stolen goods around."
Remus nodded his head in agreement. "I won't tell a soul," he promised. Before he or Tonks could say anymore, Sirius was back, announcing he was ready to listen to more music.
Author's Note: Here is another one shot! After much brainstorming, I am currently working on a longer story but I want to spend some more time with it before I post the prologue. Until then, I will post shorter pieces and one shots – I hope that is all right. :-) Reviews are welcomed, of course. Talk to you soon!