Author's Note:
Hmm, this somehow inspired a scene for my other fic "Swallow the Sun" also about Remus and Tonks...the funny thing is the scenes had nothing to do with each other! I'm so randomly weird. ^_^ Read and Review, thanks so much!
Chapter 07 – Fooled
Surprise dawned on him when Tonks suddenly asked, "Remus, can you please teach me how to get better at chess?"
Usually he'd refuse her, knowing there were many other great chess players in the house, but Remus felt like he wanted to say yes to her, unable to refuse the colorful Auror that is Nymphadora Tonks.
For the next week, he had spent every night with her in the library. She had shown him that she knew all the basics of chess, but she wasn't particularly good at it. So Remus spent the time explaining to her the many tricks he'd learned over the years, how to calculate and predict moves, and ultimately how to quickly win again. Although no matter how good of a teacher he tried to be for her, he found that Tonks just wasn't getting the last bit about winning a game, and so they tried on and on every night. They'd sit together by the fire, looming over a chessboard with their thinking faces on. Remus would steal glances at her, wondering if she noticed. He'd feel his heart beat to a rhythm that was fast and unfamiliar whenever he was around her, and he just simply loved being able to help her get better at chess.
As the nights grew longer, he had spent most of his time with Tonks, and he absolutely wasn't complaining. Seeing her so much made him feel flustered like a schoolboy and he actually loved it. Though the nights he'd spent with her were growing longer and soon he realized it was getting in the way of his sleep, but again, Remus didn't mind as long as the reason he couldn't sleep was because of Tonks.
Then one morning, after a particularly long match with Tonks, he had left a warm blanket over her as she'd fallen asleep beside the chessboard that night along with him. He woke up first and came down to the kitchen, brewing himself some tea and some coffee for Tonks, stirring the suspicion of his nosy friend who already though there had been something more between Remus and Tonks.
"What's that Remus, tea and coffee?" Sirius asked, scratching his chin.
"No, tea for me and coffee for Tonks," Remus replied casually and then he smirked. "It's not what you think Padfoot, Tonks and I are just really good friends."
"Since when did you have any other friend besides me?" Sirius teased.
"That hurts," Remus smiled and faked a look of pain.
"So why are you brewing coffee for my cousin?" Sirius asked with a sly grin.
Remus decided to ignore his grin and replied, "We were both up really late last night playing chess. I've been helping her improve lately and our last game lasted nearly five hours!"
Sirius' grin grew even wider. A feat Remus didn't think was possible.
"What?" he asked, curious and a bit worried since it was Sirius.
Then the man scoffed, laughed, and finally replied, "Nothing. It's just…Tonks is a master at chess. I thought you knew that one time you played her with all those complicated teasing movies," he smirked. "She beat me when I babysat her, and she could own you in five minutes flat! Ha, five hours," he laughed. "You must've gotten really good Remus." That last part came as sort of a tease, filled with sarcasm.
And with that, realization dawned upon Remus' face. He had been fooled by a witty Auror named Nymphadora Tonks! But he didn't mind however, since he had gotten to spend so much time with her. He'd been happily fooled. Though there was one question in Remus' mind that he couldn't answer, one question he didn't want to ask Sirius.
"Why would Tonks trick me into helping her improve at chess?" Remus thought as he tried to hide his smile about being fooled by a pink haired Auror.
