A/N: Hello again! Thanks for adding me to your story alerts! Please drop a quick note in the review box to let me know what you think!
Thank you very much to Eurudike, Shadowlark, the-purple-black, digeridon't, Dori1587 and all the anonymous reviewers for your lovely words!
Here's Chapter Two. Also, can anyone recommend me really great Andromeda/Ted fic, or Teddy/Victoire fic? I'm branching out in my interests!
~JLM.
Remus Lupin and the Unforgettable Auror Nymphadora
Tonks haphazardly kicked her Weird Sisters Dancing Alarm off her bedside table with an optimistic swipe of her foot and burrowed further under her blankets like a sleepy mole. Mondays did not bode well for her these days.
After the N.E.W.T.s she thought she'd never have to work so hard again, but in three weeks Auror Training had proven her wrong already.
Tonks enjoyed hard work when she was passionate about the subject, but she could not bring herself to care about some of the rubbish they seemed determined she needed to know at Auror HQ. What did it matter how many toes a Troll had? She'd rather learn how to restrain an angry one!
There was only one class she looked forward to every day: Practical Defense. Not only did the class get immediately down to juicy relevant Defense spells, but it meant she got to spend an hour and a quarter with the delicious Remus Lupin. It hadn't taken long for him to become her favourite professor, and favourite part of the day. The way his eyes shone when he talked lit up her mornings and his quiet certain voice made her feel warm all over, like oozy honey.
She knew she wasn't the only one. Every girl in the class sat up straighter, completely rapt with admiration, while he taught and even the boys gave their full respect and attention.
Defense was one of the hardest classes but with Lupin's encouragement everyone was doing unexpectedly well. He seemed to have a gift for knowing exactly what each person needed to feel encouraged in their abilities and personally engaged in the lesson. His kindness and patience was almost palpable, and it wasn't until Tonks saw it in him that she realised how rarely she saw it in other teachers, not to mention other men.
Remus Lupin wasn't Tonks' first teacher crush.
She'd had a crush on Severus Snape for a few months at Hogwarts, because he was quick and dry and very funny in his own way and she was always intrigued by what went on behind his eyes. Tonks knew better than anyone not to judge a book by its cover.
She'd also had a misguided affection for their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in her third year, Ivanov Slavkis, a beautifully sculpted, heavily tattooed and disarmingly playful Wizard from Durmstrang. Unfortunately he turned out to be a little bit evil.
Compared to the others though, Remus Lupin was by far the biggest crush she'd had on a teacher yet. Possibly the biggest crush she'd had ever yet.
He wasn't the most attractive Wizard in the world, but he had a very attractive energy about him, almost magnetic. It transformed his not-unattractive features into a sexy, appealing whole and made her stomach squirm when she was in direct contact with him.
Unless he's so nice that he fakes laughing at her jokes and interest in her friendly conversations, Tonks would wager Remus quite enjoys her too. She tells herself she's being silly, that it's his job to create a pleasant relationship with her and engage with her eagerly, but it does seem like there's a real connection between them. Like if they'd met at a pub or through a friend rather than in a classroom, they could have a half decent conversation and potentially arrange further conversations and end up spending a lot of time together.
But she's not fool enough to think anything would happen outside of her daydreams, although some of the girls are. Tonks is by no means the only one who's noticed Remus. He's the teacher crush of almost every girl in her year, and one or two of the boys too.
It was the excitement of getting to see his warm twinkly smile (the image of which was already firmly imprinted in her brain) that finally dragged Tonks out of bed. On the way to the bathroom, she grabbed her wand from her bedside table and silenced the Weird Sisters Alarm, still valiantly dancing upside down on the floor where it had landed.
As she squinted blearily in the mirror and groped groggily for a toothbrush she wondered what little anecdote Remus Lupin would have for them today. He liked to punctuate his lessons with little personal stories, jokes and observations. He was obviously trying to make the work more memorable, but as a consequence he succeeded in making himself completely captivating and impossible to forget.
Tonks pulled on her most comfy baggy jeans without really thinking about it. Belatedly remembering she had Slindra first thing for Stealth, she swapped them for a pair with a tighter fit that didn't drag quite so much on the floor, tripping in the process of untangling her legs from one pair into the other and getting a tender bruise on her bum.
Scowling as stubbornly as her mother, she stuffed the stupid soft-soled shoes Slindra insisted she purchase in her bag with her robes, and pocketed her jangly colorful bracelets for good measure. Let the old hag say she wasn't trying hard to be stealthy now!
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After a painful hour and a quarter of falling out of a tree she was supposed to be hiding in and being tutted at by Slindra, Tonks was more than ready for Remus Lupin's class. She slid her colorful bangles back on with relish and was immediately and irrationally soothed as she turned the corner and caught sight of him setting a briefcase down on his desk.
It was the same old dodgy one he'd been bringing every day and Tonks wondered if there was some sort of fashion trend she was missing out on, as his clothes had the same long worn-in look too. Remus didn't seem the type to care about keeping up with trends, but he also didn't seem the type to have a busted up briefcase. He was obviously a very intelligent and brilliant Wizard and highly respected by the formidable Alastor Moody: Chief Auror.
As she was about to enter the class, Tonks overheard Clarence Clearwater being taken to the nurse, too ill to come to class. The poor girl hadn't done much better than Tonks at staying in her tree and the bump on her head looked quite nasty. Tonks was struck with a brilliant idea.
She had been toying with looking for a way to get the better of Remus Lupin since he surprised her by thwarting her attempt at flummoxing him in front of everyone with waddiwassi. Tonks was not ready to bow out and be bested by him; with completely good intentions, of course, just for a laugh—she hadn't grown out of pranks yet. And she thinks Remus is the kind of teacher who would enjoy the challenge of a good prank as much as she'd enjoy the challenge of pulling it. She added this to the list of reasons why he's wonderful.
Before anyone could notice her in the doorway, Tonks turned quickly around. By a small miracle she managed to make it to the nearest broom closet without drawing attention by tripping or crashing into anything. Once safely inside, she morphed herself to an exact replica of Clarence Clearwater, taking care to add exactly the right number of freckles, and even the mole behind her left ear.
While transfiguring her clothes, Tonks took a self-satisfied moment to be very glad for her excellent, almost photographic, memory—a natural talent trained to perfection by years of careful observation and copying of people, faces and details.
She marched into class, imitating Clarence's confident stride and the girly swing of her hips. It took every inch of her self-control not to stumble in the ridiculous heels Clarence was wearing today.
She took a seat in the middle of the cluster of girls Clarence usually sat with and Remus Lupin clapped his hands softly for attention. Everyone fell quiet expectantly. He started the class with his usual warm greeting and smile. Tonks' stomach fluttered despite herself.
"Today we begin counter-jinxes," he beamed eagerly. Though as she watched him intently Tonks thought he looked a little peaky, and wondered if he'd been ill over the weekend.
"I could bore you for the hour and a quarter we have together with the theory behind what we're going to do, but I find the best way to learn something tricky is often to dive right in and try it with your own wand."
Tonks, always practical, (her dad reckoned she'd got that from him) couldn't agree more.
"I shall partner you up for our first exercise," Lupin continued. "No pressure at all, just think of this as a warm-up between friends."
His smile crinkled at the corners and Tonks though how she loved his crackly low voice and his careful choice of words and daft sense of humour. The way his eyes lit up when he got excited about a particular detail, and the endearing duck of his head when he was trying to be humble about all the things he knew.
While she drifted through her favourite thoughts of Lupin, he began moving around the room partnering people up. Tonks could hardly sit still from mischievous glee, but maintained Clarence's demeanor as best she could as he approached her row.
"Bethilda Burns," he gestured to the girl next to Tonks, "and…Milly Fallow," he had paused, thinking carefully in order to match each student with a suitable partner.
"Ah ha," he smiled pleasantly as he moved along to where Tonks sat as Clarence.
"Byron Hollings and," he raised one eyebrow just slightly in a tiny smile as he looked her in the eye, "Nymphadora Tonks."
Tonks' mouth dropped open in surprise.
"But, sir, Tonks isn't here today," Byron called from his seat in the next row, scanning the class to be certain. He was clearly fooled, how had Remus Lupin not been? Just exactly how brilliant was this wizard?
Remus nodded encouragingly to Hollings, gesturing to where Tonks-Clarence sat, "She's right here, Byron."
His grin was impossibly smug, and Tonks hated how that look made her swoon a little, even as it simultaneously made her grit her teeth.
"Umm, that's Clarence, sir," Hollings explained, assuming that Lupin had them mixed up. Remus held up a gentle hand to stop him.
"Please, call me Remus, you're not at Hogwarts anymore, there's no need for formalities" Lupin smiled pleasantly. "And I think you'll find this is Nymphadora," he added. "Though I wonder what's happened to Clarence…"
Tonks watched Lupin head for his desk to make a note of Clarence's absence with her mouth still open. He had now not only thwarted her brilliantly clever prank a second time but called her Nymphadora twice in quick succession in front of the whole class. And all while grinning like a smug, disconcertingly attractive old git. Bugger this.
"How did you know?" she demanded, letting her features shift back to her regular heart shaped face with pink spikes.
She dimly registered a few surprised gasps and chuckles, but her attention was fixed on Remus Lupin as he turned from his desk to face her, eyes glinting dangerously with wicked humour.
"Your student file says you're a Metamorphmagus," he replied calmly, eyes still alight.
She heard a few whispers go around the few members of the class who hadn't figured that out yet.
"But how did you know who I was morphed as?" she insisted indignantly, sounding every inch the Black in her blood.
"You're unforgettable." Remus answered quietly, still smiling intently.
Her heart pounded.
Remus moved away from his desk to continue pairing up the rest of the class, apparently unaware of her pounding heart or the fact she was still slightly staring at him. Tonks was left to attempt counter-jinxes with Byron, despite feeling like she'd already been slightly stunned.