It was pouring outside when Tonks left the Potters' home. She'd been visiting them for the sole reason of catching up with them, but she'd quickly gotten invested in chasing around their son. James Sirius Potter was lively; he rarely sat still and had to be bribed with toys or candy in order to calm him down. He was a handful and made Tonks wonder why she'd ever wanted children.
Harry and Ginny complained about him often, but one look at that adorable face and they melted. Tonks couldn't resist him either; her pockets were full of candy wrappers.
Candy wrappers that were soaked through. An unbearable chill was beginning to creep through her thin clothes, and she'd stupidly forgotten to check the weather forecast before she'd left. She was paying dearly for it now.
She should've just asked Ginny for an umbrella, but again, that had failed to occur to her.
"Shit," she swore, releasing every swear word she'd been holding in for James's sake. "Shit, fuck, dammit —"
"Something wrong, miss?" someone asked politely, with a hint of amusement. Tonks whirled around and gaped.
Standing in front of her was a man who could be described as handsome — he seemed more ruggedly handsome than cleanly handsome. The second thought that came to her was that this man seemed awfully familiar; he looked like someone she knew…
The man was still waiting for an answer. Tonks noticed that he, unlike her, had bothered to check the forecast today and was safely sheltered under an umbrella.
"Yeah, I —" Tonks cut herself off. She didn't have to explain herself to this stranger. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra umbrella or coat, would you?"
The man gave her a once-over, his eyes more analytical than creepy, and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't," he said. Seeing that she was drenched to the bone and shivering, he first glanced at his umbrella and then at her. "You can have mine," he offered.
Tonks shook her head, spraying icy droplets of rain everywhere, but that hardly mattered considering more was being dumped on her head at that very moment. "That's o-okay," she muttered. "Y-You don't —"
The rain stopped battering her shoulders and something brushed her head. Startled, she looked up and saw the umbrella's canopy shielding her from the rain. "We can just share," said the stranger in a low murmur, "so we both will be dry." Tonks was acutely aware of his body's proximity to hers and something warm stirred in her chest. She hadn't felt this way in a long time.
Slowly, they trudged through the rain, Tonks trying to keep as far away as she could from him without being pelted by the rain again. She kept her head low, her hands intertwined in front of her, and didn't speak a word.
Until she couldn't resist the question anymore.
"Why are you being so nice?" she blurted out. "We don't know each other, but you're being so nice."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong," he said, just loud enough so she could hear him over the rain pounding into the umbrella. "We have met before, at Bill and Fleur's wedding, and then again at Harry and Ginny's, as well at Ron and Hermione's. Do I look like any of those people?"
Tonks racked her brain. She glanced up at the stranger to better gauge his features and that's when it hit her...red hair, freckles…
"You must be Charlie!" she exclaimed. She'd met all of the Weasleys except for this one. He'd mostly been in Romania except during Bill's, Ron's, and Ginny's weddings. "I'm sorry I didn't remember! It's been a few years."
"That's all right," he said, an amused smile appearing on his weathered face. "And you're Nymphadora Tonks, though if I remember correctly, you go by just Tonks."
"Yeah," she murmured. It had been a really long time because Charlie looked different. Of course, he had a few new shiny burns and scars, but time had been kind to him otherwise. He'd grown his hair a little and had an extra piercing in his ear. Tonks typically wasn't attracted to blokes like him, but there was something about Charlie Weasley that screamed dangerous.
Tonks was all for dangerous. She lived for dangerous situations, which was why she was a police officer.
"Where were you these last few years?" she asked, trying to subtly probe. "Were you in Romania?"
"Yeah," he said. "We found a new batch of —" He broke off, looking bashful. "Sorry. You're probably not interested in what I have to say. It's nothing like —"
"I am interested," she said earnestly, "that's why I asked."
Charlie looked positively delighted and he immediately went into a full-scale rant, describing his adventures and his most dangerous exploits, and Tonks listened, enjoying every moment.
Charlie Weasley was an interesting man, and Tonks looked forward to what could potentially happen with him — if the fluttering butterflies in her stomach were right.
836 words
Founder Says - Helga - 9. "Why are you being so nice?"
Honeydukes Hoarder - Sour Candy - 10. CharlieTonks
All Aboard - Blue Train: Emotions - 10. Amused
1000 - 121. (object) Umbrella
366 - 299. Stupid
