"So you live here," said Remus, releasing Tonks' arm. They had decided to stay at Tonks' apartment rather than Grimmauld Place—under the pretense of a "change of pace," instead of avoiding a drunk Sirius. And secretly, Tonks was excited to have Remus stay over.
They had Apparated into Tonks' living room. Although there was no dust or dirt, all of her things were thrown everywhere willy-nilly—her Muggle clothes, Auror training books, Ministry paperwork, empty take-out boxes were all over the floor and furniture.
"Sorry," said Tonks, turning slightly pink. "Let me try to—organize!" she called. The clothes flew into one big pile in the corner while her books and paper somersaulted lazily into another. It was not neat but at least there was room on the sofa now.
"It's all right," said Lupin smilingly. "It reminds me of—never mind. Are you okay? How did you get your tongue in order?"
"Metamorphmagus powers," said Tonks gratefully. "Useful for more than just good-looks and disguise."
"Is this what you look like when you are not using them?" he asked curiously.
"Eh?" she asked. She got up and peered in the bathroom mirror from across the room. Her hair was a mousey brown, about the length of her chin. "Yeah, that's me. I haven't seen what I really look like in years." She felt ugly and self-conscious. She tried to change her hair back into the orange braid, but it didn't work. She was still nervous about the pain of the Cruciatus Curse—shocks of electricity seemed to jolt her at random times, traveling up and down her veins as an after-effect.
"It's not so different," he said kindly. "That was one of the most frightening things I had ever seen, when I saw the Cruciatus Curse performed on you. You fell on the floor, screaming. Your whole body was shifting from color to size, as if hundreds of people were Apparating and Disapparating rapidly in your place for a few seconds, until you came to this body. And I knew this was what you really looked like underneath all of your disguises."
"Yeah," said Tonks, touching her limp hair with disgust, embarrassed at feeling so vulnerable. "Gorgeous, huh? Bet you didn't know I was a veela underneath all that pink," she laughed sardonically.
"You are not ugly, Nymphadora," Lupin stated with a frown.
"And you are not rude," she replied with a false laugh. "Why did you think I was always changing my hair?"
"I will not understand fully why some attractive women insist on degrading their own appearances. Clearly they cannot believe themselves or they would be mad. And I do not think you are the type that would fish for compliments. I always thought you changed your hair—at first, I thought it was because you were an immature adult and you preferred the company of underage witches to your peers."
"Not gonna deny it," said Tonks with a grin, despite herself.
"However, after knowing you, I find this wasn't the case, whatever you may think. I believe you prefer a disguise to your real appearance because it feels as though your heart—your heart, which beats as compassionately as that of Helga Hufflepuff—is more protected. Most people judge on the material, do they not? Voldemort does and many fall into that trap. I do not know how you plan to defend yourself, however, when someone gets to know you and their heart gets a glimpse of yours."
Tonks shivered.
"You want some coffee, Remus?" she asked suddenly, getting up off the couch and going toward the kitchen.
"No thank you," he asked, embarrassed by his previous words. "It's nearly midnight. Sleep is something I rarely find and value when I can get it."
"Right," said Tonks, as though she'd been hit on the head. "Okay."
"Some water would be excellent," he amended. She fetched it obediently, still feeling dazed. "I'm sorry. I should not have said such personal things, Tonks. I was attempting—poorly, of course—to cheer you up." She looked at him, paused, and grinned.
"Well, the world hasn't ended," she chuckled, feigning looking out the window for apocalyptic meteors. "Remus is the one cheering me up today. Usually you're the one moping around."
"Moping?" he annunciated clearly in disbelief, but looked away with a grin. "Is that what I do?"
"Oh, occasionally you'll brood and once in a blue moon I'll catch you being moody. But you're usually moping."
"I don't think anyone in the world but Alastor could be Moody," quipped Lupin.
"Did you just make a joke, Remus?" asked Tonks, astonished. "What's more, one as terrible as a pun? Go on, make one about Sirius, I've been dying to for ages but thought it might be in poor taste-"
"It would be," said Remus with a faux stern expression. "Sirius puns were completely exhausted in our fifth year by our professors. Sirius even suggested Tabooing his own name in order to revenge himself on those who attempted such a linguistic travesty."
"Shame," sighed Tonks, in considerably better mood than she'd been all day. Suddenly her face lit up, remembering. She drew her wand. "Oh wait, I forgot. I've got to send a message to Snape. Expecto Patronum!"
Out of her wand exploded a big, silvery fish—on closer inspection it was large, male dolphin. Lupin had never known how big they actually were, but this one took up half the room—perhaps it was magically enlarged, probably by the power of Tonks' usual cheer and good will that a Patronus Charm requires.
"Message for Professor Severus Snape. The Muggles are safe. Couldn't get the two Death Eaters, the Crabbe brothers. Faked the Muggles' deaths—the bodies in the Malfoys' yard are not real. Thanks again."
The immense, silver dolphin gave an ethereal chirp, bucked and swam around the room once, then leapt out the window of the kitchen, ascending into the northern skies above.
"That's invisible to Muggles, right?" asked Tonks in a tone suggested she didn't really care.
"Yes," replied Remus, going to the window to watch. "As far as I know."
Tonks turned back to him and crossed her eyes. Her mousy hair turned thick and black, coming down to her shoulders.
"I'm glad you are back in order," said Remus with a smile.
"Me too," said Tonks, scratching behind her ear. "I think I'm going to bed now. It must be midnight—it's been a long night. You can stay in here, the spare—my parents stay there when they're visiting."
"Thank you. Oh, and Tonks?" he asked, turning to look at her. "Happy Halloween."
Tonks woke up early because she was so excited. Remus is in my flat. He's here. She got up straight away to make coffee, then realized it was only 5:30 AM and decided he should probably sleep in a little more. She tried to sleep but she hugged the pillow, too happy to go back to bed. She had had difficulty falling asleep (a combination of Remus' presence in the next room and the after affects of the Cruciatus Curse) the night before.
She sighed happily and got up after half an hour. Six o'clock was late enough, wasn't it? She was still in her pajamas as she made coffee by hand. She hummed an older Weird Sisters hit and decided on a big breakfast to surprise Remus.
Eggs, toast, marmalade, the works. She started on the pancakes and decided it was an extra-special day—she screwed her eyes up and made thin white strips down blue and purple hair that fell to her ankles.
"I sent my elf to tell ya, but you just told him to smell ya, my lovely siren ladyyyyyy, sing for meeeeee," Tonks sang, managing to screech quietly. There was no need, however, as she saw Lupin saunter into the room, waking up slowly.
"Good morning," he greeted her, standing at the kitchen's threshold. "They used to dance to that song when I was at Hogwarts."
"So did I. I went to four of their concerts before I started Auror training."
"Hm," said Lupin, accepting the cup of coffee that she offered him. "I was under the impression that you started Auror training as soon as you left Hogwarts. "
"Oh no," said Tonks, flipping the turkey bacon. "I had no idea what I wanted to do when I left Hogwarts, despite all the career advice my Head of House gave me. He thought I was rather witless, you see, and was trying to sign me up for Muggle Liaising or Flobberworm Cultivation and Control. And I was still in denial about growing up. I wanted to stay at Hogwarts my whole life."
"So did I, actually," admitted Lupin.
"Hm. Well, I went got a job for a year or so at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, but I was fired because I kept dropping those top heavy five-scoop cones, you know? I tried out for the Holyhead Harpies, but no dice. My flying's not bad, but I can't seem to hold onto a club or a ball."
"Tough luck, I suppose," he nodded sympathetically.
"Have some toast," said Tonks, fixing him a plate. "I got my first job at the Ministry after I was two years out of Hogwarts. I worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. It was my job to catch escaped or wild Winged Horses and Hippogriffs."
"Did you enjoy it?" asked Lupin after eating a forkful of eggs.
"Oh yeah, it was great. The thing was, it was too easy. I didn't just fly after them, I tracked them down based on what remains they left at different sites. And if I fought with a rogue Hippogriff, I usually got beat up but I never lost my head and could usually subdue it. My boss, Mr. Diggory, was impressed with me and gave me a recommendation to the Auror Headquarters, told me I was meant for bigger and better things."
"Amos Diggory? Cedric's father?" asked Lupin cautiously.
"Yes, him," sighed Tonks. "I was so sorry to hear about Cedric's death. He came with me on some of my Winged Horse chases, to practice his flying for our Lady Hufflepuff's team. So nice and helpful. He talked about his girlfriend, a Ravenclaw, and how he was going to Italy after Hogwarts." She gave a half-smile, remembering.
"We have to win this war," said Remus, echoing Sirius and many of the other old-timer Order members.
"Well, we won a battle last night. Or at least drew," she said, taking a big bite of toast with jam. "I hope Sirius isn't hung over too badly."
"I'll take care of him," said Lupin. "It's not the first time. It was kind of the same at Hogwarts."
"Taking care of your drunk friends?" asked Tonks. Lupin frowned at her, as if he resented her calling them that.
"Sometimes they had a little too much at the Three Broomsticks. I helped them get in the castle after hours without getting caught—but this is beside the point. Don't you need to go to the Ministry?"
"At eight. I'll head out in about an hour, but you're welcome to stay."
"Oh," he replied, surprised. "Thank you. However, I need to return to Grimmauld Place and make sure Sirius is not worrying too much about me."
"Oh yeah," said Tonks, the thought dawning. "We left Sirius without telling him. Poor guy—will you tell him sorry me?"
"For both of us." Remus took a bite of the waffles. "Thank you. I haven't had such a delicious breakfast in ages. Do not tell Molly, of course."
"Of course," said Tonks with a wink. Remus beamed over his eggs, making him look much younger than the faint lines on his faced suggested. Tonks wondered if he'd ever been winked at before.