A/N: Hallelujah, it's the second chapter. This doesn't lead on directly from the last one, in fact there's a bit of a time jump. It's nothing too huge, but it is our favourite professor's birthday today, and so in celebration, I'm posting this.
Word count: 5000+
Disclaimer: I still don't own this magical world.
Remus closed the door to number 12 Grimmauld place quietly, hanging his coat on the wall opposite the curtained painting of Walburga Black. He crept down the hallway until he neared the kitchen, at which point he sped up and began to think about what he may have missed of the Order meeting. He didn't bother knocking on the closed door - the only people who attended Sunday Order meetings at this time of year were Mad-Eye, Sirius, Tonks, Remus, and on this occasion, Molly and Arthur.
"Wotcher, Remus." Tonks was the first to greet him, cutting Mad-Eye off mid-sentence. Remus smiled apologetically and took his seat between Tonks and Sirius.
"As I was saying," Moody growled, "it's the same schedule as last week because Mundungus is still on the run after the biting doorknob incident. Remus, it has been brought to my attention that it's your birthday on Tuesday. I'm sorry but Tuesday is still your shift night." Remus gave a short nod of acceptance. "I think that'll be all," Moody continued. "Tonks, Sirius, would you catch Remus up on what he's missed, and I'll be on my way. Goodnight."
With that he scraped his chair back and stood off, and had disappeared down the hallway and out the door before anyone could even call after him.
"What was his problem?" Tonks smirked at her mentor's expense.
"He has guard duty, dear. How's your mother, Remus?" asked Molly, standing up to prepare their meal. "Still well, I hope?"
"Oh, she's fine, but she's had to retire her owl. He was losing his feathers, and he'd lost so much weight. She bought him the year I started Hogwarts."
"Blimey," Arthur said in awe. "And that was, what, 20 years ago?"
"Roughly, yes. A little more, possibly, I never counted. And he wasn't new when we got him; even then he was about three or four."
"You must have taken bloody good care of him."
He nodded. "He was like a second son to mum. Of course he never got ill, not once. He spent rather a lot of time in the wild, he just came back in the day time."
"Well, Errol is getting on a bit now," Molly sighed. "We may have to say goodbye to him soon."
"He's still doing his job, Molly. He's never lost a letter, not that we know of, it's just his landings that he has a spot of bother with."
By this stage Molly was dishing out three bowls of hot soup.
"Yes, well, we'd best be off now, anyway. Enjoy your soup, I can always bring some more if you want?"
Sirius smiled at her. "You spoil us, Molly. But no, thank you, this should do for us."
"Righto, dear. Well, we'll see you all later, then."
As she and Arthur walked to the door to disapparate, Remus followed them.
"Ah, I don't mean to be rude, but I was wondering, might I borrow Errol for a night, please?"
Molly paused in putting on her cloak to look quizzically at Remus.
"Errol, dear? Of course you can, I'll send him over as soon as we get home. Not a problem." She gave him her best mothering smile, and soon disappeared through the doorway, shortly followed by a nodding Arthur.
Remus retreated back to the kitchen, where Tonks sat, mug of tea in one hand, a copy of Which Broomstick in the other, and her steaming bowl of soup sat on the table in front of her.
"Getting a new broomstick, Tonks?" Remus inquired, applying himself to the chair next to hers.
Without looking up from her magazine, Tonks replied. "Getting a new owl, Remus?"
"Touché. And yes, I think I may have to dip into my savings for once. I'm starting to need one more that I'd thought I would." He picked up an old copy of the Daily Prophet. "So, you're getting a new broomstick?"
"Yeah," Tonks sighed. "It really kind of irritated me that Harry had a really good broom, when I'm stuck on my old Comet. I mean I don't begrudge him it, but c'mon, I should at least have a half decent broom."
"Did you play Quidditch well in school?"
"I was a Beater from fourth year to seventh. I got knocked off my broom on my last match, I woke up a week and a half later. We'd won, anyway."
Remus laughed. "I wasn't bad myself, you know."
"Really? You don't seem like the Quidditch type."
"That," he grinned, "is because I wasn't bad, I was terrible." Tonks laughed openly at him. "I really was. Flying normally, I was pretty good, but tell me to hover or make a circle and I'd be on the floor in seconds. Straight lines. That is my forte."
"Maybe I should give you lessons."
"Maybe I'll accept your offer gladly."
They smiled at each other, each trying to hide their embarrassment.
He brought his own mug of tea to his lips, savouring the warm liquid. He'd been living off others for far too long, and he felt satisfied to say that he'd bought these teabags himself. Although saying that, he was rather looking forward to Molly's soup, when it'd cooled.
Tonks was thinking. She already needed to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. An owl cost roughly 30 Galleons. Remus needed an owl. She hadn't bought Remus a birthday present yet. She hardly spent any money at all, ever, and she was already planning on buying a Broomstick. Surely 30 Galleons wouldn't go amiss from her Gringots account?
Sirius had given her the key to his Gringots Bank vault, and told Tonks exactly how much to take out. She was on a mission: Operation Remus' Birthday Presents. She had a list, and Tonks could feel the difference in the weight of her pockets as she descended the stairs from Gringots, back onto the steers of Diagon Alley. She knew where her first stop was going to be; Quality Quidditch Supplies.
After weeks of debating the type of broom she should get, and a little helpful input from Sirius, she'd finally decided. Well, almost. It was between the Cleansweep 11 and the Nimbus 2001. Nimbus brooms were known to be far better than the cleansweeps, but of course it came at a price. She'd taken out just enough money to buy the Nimbus, with a little left over, but if she bought it, she'd be left with hardly anything in her bank account, and it would take quite a long time's wages to get that money back. However if she bought the Cleansweep, she'd have plenty of Galleons left over. But it wasn't the right broom for her.
Inside the Quidditch supplies shop, it was mostly empty. What seemed to be the only attendant was showing off Broomsticks to a strange looking old man at the counter. Steering clear of them, she walked over to the closest display case, peering in at the new Firebolt. She longed to hold it, but the 'price on request' sign was by far a huge deterrent. Instead she circled the shop, looking for the Cleansweep Eleven.
"Can I 'elp you, love?" A voice behind her made her jump. The strange old man had left the shop, leaving the attendant, a spotty teenager, probably fresh out of Hogwarts.
"Erm," Tonks cast another fleeting glance around the room, "do you have any Cleansweep Elevens? I can't see one."
The boy shook his head. "Sorry, love, we don't stock them anymore. Sold out couple o' months ago and never bought 'em back in. Took too long to sell 'em out, y'see. Can I 'elp you with anything else?"
Tonks shook her head, but as she turned to leave, the shining black handle caught her eye. "How much are your Nimbus 2001's?"
"We're expecting a new delivery of them tomorrow, love. All we got is the display one. O' course it's cheaper to get the display one, but there's no guarentee on it, so you can't bring it back, see."
"How much cheaper?" she asked, not averting her gaze from the sleek black frame.
The teen shot a look over his shoulder. "For you, love, a couple of 'undred less. Just don't tell me manager."
She looked back at him in surprise, and he winked at her. Trying not to retch, she smiled and nodded. "I'll take it."
The boy's eyes widened. He rushed forward, stumbling madly, and picked the Nimbus up off its stand.
"Right, I'll wrap it for you! Right away! Would you like a servicing kit? A Quidditch player's guide?"
Tonks grinned. "No thanks,"
"Alright, love. Just the Broom."
While he messily coated the Broom with brown paper, Tonks chatted to him, which seemed to make him a little nervous.
"So, did you play Quidditch in school?"
He nodded. "I was a chaser for Slytherin. Started in me sixth year, though."
"Ah. I was a beater for Hufflepuff, from third year to seventh. Never lost a match."
The boy snapped off a stray piece of string.
"So, are you single?"
"I might be," she answered simply.
Silence dropped onto the boy. He'd finished wrapping, and Tonks was pulling her money from her pockets.
"Soo... Would you like to go on a date with me?"
Tonks ignored the question, only smirked at him as she placed the correct number of Galleons on the desk.
"I said that I might be, not that I am," she said clearly, picking up her new broom and walking triumphantly from the shop.
The Magical Menagerie was just down the road, and was a little fuller than the Broomstick shop had been. A basket of kittens sat on top of the counter, which tempted Tonks more than she'd have liked to admit. Maybe when the war's over, I'll get one, she mused.
There was a whole wall filled with owls. Most were caged, but a few of them perched on top of empty cages, their heads tucked under their wings. Tonks approached them wearily, checking ever few seconds that none of the owls on high perches were going to open fire on her. Looking at them, none of the owls particularly appealed to her. They all appeared to be the same to her. Why can't the owl choose the person, like wands? Of course this wasn't going to be her owl, but she was sure the owl wouldn't mind.
Beside her, a woman in her mid-forties seemed to be having the same problem. She too was staring at the owls, completely befuddled. By her feet, a small girl was poking a toad, giggling and squealing every time it moved.
"Mummy, I wants a froggy!"
"No, darling," the mother said monotonously, as if the words had passed her lips a thousand times before.
"But mummy, I want one! I neeeeeeeeeed one!"
"Not today, darling."
Tonks smiled down at the little girl, who grinned back toothily. "Pink hair!" she squealed, causing her mother to look down in confusion.
"Mummy, that lady has pink hair! Pretty hair! Pretty!"
The woman frowned apologetically at Tonks, but Tonks just grinned.
"She's so sweet," she told the mother, who laughed.
"Sweet, but a pain in the bum. She fed our old owl spellotape to see if he'd stick to the wall. It made him really quite ill. I'll never let her have a pet at this age, but of course we need a new owl now."
Tonks nodded. "It's my friend's birthday tomorrow, and he needs an owl. His old one was about 25 when he retired it, could barely fly in a straight line. How are you supposed to choose an owl, anyway?"
"Merlin knows," sighed the woman. "My husband told me to go for one that looks perky, but it's the middle of the day, most of them are asleep!"
After they both took another long gaze at every owl, the woman was closely inspecting a small and lively tawny owl, whereas Tonks was deeply considering getting him a trained rat instead. Maybe Remus would like a rat?
A loud rattling from one of the top cages made Tonks look up. An owl, a brown speckled small thing, was gnawing intensely on the latch of its cage. Every few seconds it turned its head, trying a different angle, until at last the latch moved, the steel wire door burst open, and out flew the bird. It hovered in the air for a second, before diving straight down. Tonks felt like jumping out of the way and its metre wide wing span nearly hit her, but it slowed to a stop, coming to rest on her shoulder.
On closer inspection, the bird was just about under a foot tall, and its beautiful brown and black markings distinguished it from most of the other birds. As she gently stroked its feathers, she noticed how its large Amber eyes were lined with black circles, almost making it look like it was wearing eye makeup.
"You're rather beautiful, aren't you?" she murmured. "Would you like to live with Remus? I'm sure he'll take care of you, and he'd be so proud to have you. I think most people would, to be honest. I'd keep you for myself if Remus didn't need you."
After another few minutes of stroking the magnificent bird, she moved over to the counter. The elderly witch at the desk looked up through her round spectacles, absentmindedly stroking the neck of a tiny black and white kitten.
"Yes dear?"
"How much for this owl? And a cage and things?"
"A male short-eared owl with the standard starter pack is 43 Galleons. That includes a comfortable sized silver cage, perch, owl food, and treats. The book 'How Smart is Your Owl' is an extra 5 Galleons."
Tonks glanced down into her pockets. This was going to be one expensive gift.
Tonks awoke the next morning in her bedroom in Grimmauld Place to the sound of the new owl hooting loudly in his cage. She shushed it quickly, afraid that he might give the game away. Today was Remus' birthday, so she wouldn't have to hide him for much longer.
She dressed quickly and headed downstairs, and was surprised to see Sirius stood on the kitchen table, a bundle of colourful streamers in his arms. His face went pale as Tonks walked in, but he was soon back to his normal grinning self, after she'd finished laughing at him.
"Morning, Tonks."
"Morning, Sirius. What are you up to?"
"I'm glad you asked, Tonksie. I'm trying to get these streamers to hang in mid-air and sing happy birthday, but, well Remus was always the best at charms. I don't suppose you could...?"
Tonks laughed, but took out her wand. "Throw them up into the air. Then duck."
Sirius did as he was told, throwing them on the count of three, and then he leapt from the table, shouting, "QUACK!"
Tonks laughed, but then the floorboards moved in the room above them: Remus' room.
"You idiot, he's awake now!" She hissed at him, irritated but still proud that the streamers were now flying around the room, twirling in beautiful patterns.
As foot-steps descended the stairs, Tonks was racking her brains for the charm to make things sing. It was only when the kitchen door started creaking open that she remembered it, and muttered it just as Remus walked in, still in his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt. He stared at Sirius, who was still crouching on the floor in front of the table, and then at Tonks, who was silently willing the streamers to start singing.
"What's going-"
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!"
"Shut up," Tonks pleaded to the streamers, waving her wand desperately. Eventually they did quiet down, but they still continiued to sing at a lower volume. "Happy birthday, Remus," she grinned, very close to bursting into laughter.
"Yeah, happy birthday, Moony!" Sirius stood up and pulled his friend in for a hug. Remus looked completely bemused. He was still very much occupied by the dancing streamers. "C'mon, Tonksie, group hug!" Sirius dragged her in, and she carefully placed one of her arms around Sirius, and the other around Remus.
Merlin, he smells good in the morning.
"Ah, thanks," Remus chuckled. "Anyone want a cup of tea?"
"No, no, no, Moony! We are doing everything for you today - you are not allowed to lift a finger."
"Sirius, I have guard duty tonight, and-"
"Nope. Arthur is taking it for you. He said that you took so most of his shifts while he was ill, so now he's returning the favour. Now sit down, and let Tonksie make us all some tea, and I'll go get your presents from me."
Before anyone could protest, he'd bounded out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving Remus and Tonks alone in the kitchen.
"He's a bit over excited, isn't he?" laughed Tonks as she retrieved three mugs from the top cupboard.
"This is nothing," he replied, sinking into a chair. "He was much worse in Hogwarts. It usually included two pranks, one on the birthday subject, and one larger one that the birthday subject could play on a teacher or someone. And of course this happened four times a year, five when Lily started going out with James. She was rather good at coming up with pranks, actually. But the presents were always something to be wary of. Sirius is notoriously known for his present buying skills."
"Oh, I know that much. I figured that when he made me go out and buy the things he picked out for you. Let me just say that it's a good thing that I can change my face, because I will not be going into those shops again."
Remus chuckled. "That's a little worrying," he mused.
Tonks placed three mugs of tea onto the table and sat down next to Remus just as Sirius skipped happily into the room, a pile of neatly wrapped presents stacked in his arms.
"Here you go, Moony!" he placed them all carefully in front of Remus.
"The top one is half from Tonks, she owes me a few Galleons now, but I don't think that'll matter considering the other thing she bought you..."
"Shut up, Sirius."
Cautiously, Moony picked up the top present. It was nearly two feet long, a foot wide, and an inch thick. He slowly peeled off the wrapping paper, revealing a huge bar of Honeyduke's finest chocolate.
His smile grew intensely, as he looked up to thank his two best friends.
The next present was a relatively small box, and Remus blushed when he saw what was underneath the wrapping paper.
"Really, Sirius? Edible underwear?"
"I'll be offended if you don't use it soon, Moony."
Next came three more giant bars of Honeyduke's chocolate, all in different flavours, a jumbo box of Every Flavour Beans, a writing set, a Muggle book on the mythology of Werewolves, and The Complete Works of Charles Dickens.
"Wow, Sirius. This has to be the best load of presents in years. Thanks." He stood up, and did that shake-hands-then-hug thing that only men can do. "And thank you, Tonks," he smiled, leaning across to kiss her on the cheek and hug her, too.
"You've not had the real present from me yet, Remus. It's upstairs."
Sirius wolf-whistled.
"Shut up, Sirius, you know what it is anyway. Now, come on."
She stood up, slightly nervous, and led them all out of the kitchen.
What if he didn't like it? What if he'd already bought one for himself? The questions never stopped in her mind, they only swirled faster and faster.
Remus was confused. What could she have bought him that they couldn't bring downstairs? She was leading him down the hallway, up the stairs, past his room... The only other rooms on this floor were the library and Tonks' room. They passed the library, and came to a stop outside the room that he knew to belong to Tonks whenever she stayed here. The door to her room was closed, and Remus wondered what could be on the other side.
"Now, your present is in the middle of the room. You can't miss it. There's a few extras around it, but none of it is wrapped. I didn't know what to get you, and then I thought- well, you'll see. You first."
The words tumbled from her mouth, and soon she was gesturing for him to open the door. He did so, pushing it slowly and stepping inside. Tonks came to his right side, and Sirius to his left, but
Remus was staring at the cage in the middle of the room. He barely even noticed when Tonks started mumbling to him, something about her knowing that he needed an owl and hoping that he was to his taste.
The owl was amazing. It was awake, and gazing up at Remus with its intelligent amber eyes.
"Remus?" He turned to look at a very nervous Tonks. "Is it... Do you like it?"
He smiled at her. He didn't think he'd ever seen her so nervous before.
"I love it," he said honestly. "Thank you, so much." He pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tightly. "You shouldn't have..." he breathed, releasing her so he could stare at the owl again. "How much did you pay for all of this? It can't have been cheap. You know I can't pay you back..."
"I don't expect you to pay me back, Remus - it's your birthday present. And the cost is irrelevant, it was worth it. Anyway, he needs a name." She smiled up at him, her cheeks flushed red and her hair the brightest pink he'd ever seen it. He hugged her again, this time placing a kiss onto her cheek, which she returned. Her lips were so soft on his cheek, he longed to allow them to meet with his skin again, but he resisted the temptation.
"Thank you," he murmured again against the soft skin of her temple.
"You're welcome," she whispered.
"Oh my god, get a room," Sirius interrupted loudly, causing Remus to pull away reluctantly. He smiled lightly at Tonks, and then crouched down next to the cage to free the owl. It stepped onto his hand confidently, and Remus stood up with it, stroking it with his spare hand.
"Aww, Moony, I think he likes you."
Remus smiled. "I've got a new best friend," he said childishly. "So bye-bye, Sirius." He walked calmly from the room, stuck his tongue out at Sirius and grinned at a giggling Tonks.
Sirius gave Tonks the dead eye. "I'm going to kill that bird."
Tonks ran out of the room just before Sirius did, shouting for Remus to run, even though he was already on the ground floor. He'd placed his owl on the banister, told him to stay there, and then positioned himself on the bottom step, ready and waiting for the inevitable.
Tonks came thundering down that stairs, and as predicted, she tripped on the fourth to last step, and fell directly into the strong, bare arms of Remus. Unfortunately, Remus slipped backwards off the step, and fell to the floor with Tonks still in his arms. They landed with a thump on the floorboards. Tonks was laid on top of Remus, her legs on either side of his waist and her head resting on his shoulder.
"Hello, Remus," said Tonks awkwardly. "Fancy seeing you here."
"We do tend to meet in strange places, don't we?" He cracked a grin, and soon both of them were in fits of laughter.
Sirius watched on, smiling to himself. They were in love, they just didn't know it. Or maybe they did know it; they just weren't ready to admit it. Idiots. He marched past them, offering his hand to the owl on the banister.
"C'mon, bird brain."
The laughter died down quickly after Sirius left, leaving them smiling at each other and connecting in places that were far from innocent, as Remus was quickly realising.
"Well, I guess we should move," he offered, propping himself up onto his elbows. Tonks slid off of him, and he stood up as quickly as he could. "So, any thoughts on names?"
"No idea," she shrugged, "he's your owl, not mine."
Remus smiled again. "I still can't believe you got me an owl. I can't thank you enough, Tonks, really."
"You don't have to thank me, Remus. You needed an owl so I bought you one. It's kind of the point of birthday presents. You buy the person something that they need but wouldn't normally buy for themselves, but you think that they might like. You needed an owl, you said it yourself, but they can be damned expensive, and I knew that it would be far more convenient for both of us, because one, now you don't have to pay out for one so I've saved you money, and two, it means that I didn't buy you a crappy present that you don't even like."
"I'm sure I'd love any gift from you, Tonks," he smiled cheekily.
"Aww, you're sweet."
"Plus, you can borrow him whenever you like, considering you bought him."
"Ah, yes, I was hoping you'd bring that up. It's another upside, but I didn't want to seem rude by bringing it up."
He laughed at her, and sat down at the kitchen table in their old spots. Sirius was sat opposite them, staring intently at the owl on the table.
"So," Sirius started. "What are you gonna call him? Please don't be something boring."
"Look, everyone say the first thing that comes into your head, and we'll see what comes out. Remus, Sirius, then me, then go round again. Ready?" Tonks looked to both men, who nodded. "Remus, go."
"Shakespeare."
"Chicken."
"Dickens."
"Archimedes."
"Fireball."
"Willie. Again."
"Merlin."
"Windmill."
"Turkey. Interesting."
Remus conjured a piece of parchment and a quill, and wrote down all of the suggestions.
"Where did Chicken, Fireball, Windmill and Turkey come from?"
"I quite like Chicken," Sirius pointed out. "Fireball Chicken Dickens sounds really awesome."
Remus glanced to Tonks for a sane vote, but she was smiling. "It does have a nice ring to it. How about Archimedes Fireball Chicken Dickens? It's two historic names and two awesome names."
"And what will it end up being shortened to?"
"Whatever it comes to when you call it. Give some of them a try."
Remus straightened in his seat. "Fine. Archimedes," he called. "Archimedes Fireball Chicken Dickens?"
The bird's head span around to look at Remus. Remus groaned.
"Fireball?" No reaction. "Chicken? Chicken Dickens." The bird's head turned again, and this time he walked calmly over to Remus and gently nipped his hand. Remus groaned again, but Sirius and Tonks laughed. Sirius reached across to pick up the bird.
"And now," he announced loudly, holding the hand up high that it was sat on, "I christen thee, Chicken Dickens Lupin Tonks Black."
"I'll drink to that," laughed Tonks, raising her nearly empty mug of tea. Remus did the same, grinning from ear to ear. This was the best birthday ever.
Sat in his room that night, Remus pulled out a piece of paper from the new set from Sirius, and set about writing a letter to his mum.
Dear Mum,
I just wanted to show you my new owl, he was a gift from Nymphadora, and he's really very sweet. We had a big debate about what his name should be, and it turns out he comes to you when you call him Chicken. We're not quite sure why. I've enclosed a few treats for you to give to him, just in case you want to keep him for a while. Nymphadora paid quite a lot for him and his cage and his first bag of food, so I've suggested a time-share between the three of us whenever someone needs him.
I also received several large bars of Honeyduke's chocolate, some writing equipment and an interesting book. The best thing is that I feel like I'm getting somewhere with Nymphadora. I know that I shouldn't, but I've told you how I feel about her. Yes, I live in fear of hurting her, but I couldn't live with myself if I gave up the opportunity if it ever presented itself.
I'll be coming for dinner as usual on Sunday, I'll tell you more then.
Lots of love, Remus. Xxx
He folded the paper and slipped it into an envelope, sealed it, and called Chicken over onto his desk. As he tied the letter to his leg, Remus spoke to him.
"So you're taking this to my mother. Please be nice to her, don't bite her. You do as she tells you, okay? Go."
He stroked his feathers for a few seconds longer, then opened the window and sent Chicken flying.
He left the window open for a while. The breeze was pleasantly cool. He'd had a good day; after breakfast, they'd gone up to the Library and played a chess tournament, he'd won half of his games, but Tonks had won overall. Then Molly and Arthur came over with dinner, and they'd talked for a few hours before they left. Sirius had gone to bed early, leaving Tonks and Remus talking and laughing by the fire for hours after that. It was only when they were both yawning that they unanimously decided to go to bed.
Remus was stretched out on his bed. The window was still open, waiting for Chicken to return, and the house was almost silent. He could hear the sound of the trees outside in the wind, a door clicking open somewhere, the creaking of the ancient floorboards, and then three short knocks on his door.
He stood quickly, tying the drawstring on his pyjama bottoms a little tighter. When he saw Tonks stood in his doorway, he smiled. She reached up to place her hands at the back of his head, and slowly pulled his head down to touch her lips to his. At first he didn't know how to react; he hadn't anticipated this happening at all, but it wasn't unpleasant. It felt right, and he most definitely wasn't going to argue. Instead he placed his hands on her waist and deepened the kiss.
As their lips parted, she whispered, "Happy birthday, Remus."
And I can confirm, there is more to come. Again, a very happy birthday to the best DADA teacher Hogwarts has ever seen. Please review, it makes me happy. I'll try my very best to reply to them all. I think I'm going to continue this further, but until then… Au revoir. x
