READING TIME

I don't own Harry Potter, or its characters.

This story is set a few years after Remus and Tonks have started dating and now live together in a nice non-Grimmauld Place home. Enjoy and review!

Because it was not a common occurrence, or rather, it has never even occurred before, Remus was surprised, to say the least, when Tonks, in her subtle way, announced she would be joining him for his traditional after-dinner reading that evening.

"I'll be reading with you tonight," she had said cheerily as he cleared the dinner dishes and she… stayed as far away from the dinner dishes as possible.

He glanced back at her puzzled. "Whatever for?" he asked, attempting to balance the dishes as he made his way toward the sink.

"What do you mean what for?" she asked, as if offended, "I read all the time."

He had finally set all the dirty dishes into the sink, and used the handy charm he learned from Molly Weasley for them to wash themselves. He turned back to her. "Right," he responded, not wanting to further insult her. "What I mean is, why tonight?"

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Well, you know. We haven't really spent much time together lately because well… we don't exactly have that many things in common. I just wanted to be a part of your life."

He was touched by her gesture, and showed her by leaning in to kiss her lightly. "That's very sweet, Tonks, really." She beamed. "But," he started, as he furrowed his brows, "Are you sure? There are tons of other things we can do together."

She rolled her eyes, annoyed by his protests. "Remus, how many times do I have to tell you? I like reading. Actually, I love reading. And as a matter of fact, I just read something quite lovely last week. Now come on, some of us actually want to read here," she said, tugging his arm.

He took a deep breath, and nodded unconsciously. "Alright. Reading. Excellent," and slowly followed Tonks toward their small library.

"What are you reading?" she piped, as she hung upside down on the couch, her green hair brushing the carpeted floor and her book forgotten in her lap.

He barely looked up from his book and as he responded impassively, "Asian Dragons and Their Influence on Asian Muggle and Wizarding Culture".

"Oh," she said, "Is it interesting?"

"Yes."

"Good."

A short silence followed.

"You know, a dragon once ate my jumper while I was still wearing it." She reopened her book, and flipped through disinterestedly.

He did not respond, not wanting to encourage her, but all he could think about now, as anyone else surely would, was why in the world would a dragon eat Tonks' jumper? He was so curious, he wanted to ask her, and would have if she had not interrupted his thoughts again.

"Hey, we should have a birthday party for Harry. His birthday's coming up."

A glance to the side observed that she had once again closed her book, and was now using it to scratch her knee.

He turned back to his book, "Yes. In three months."

She smiled brightly, "Oh good, that'll give us time to prepare. Who should we invite? The Weasleys, of course. Do you think the Weasleys will be free?"

He was determined to keep reading. "I don't know, we'll have to ask them."

"… and Hermione," she continued, "And the Order, of course. We should hire entertainment. Like, sirens to sing or something. Hey, I read in the newspaper, because I read all the time, that unicorns were really popular at children's birthdays. Perhaps we should get a unicorn."

"I hardly think Harry's a child anymore," his eyes hard on the book.

"Well, he has that whole 'stolen childhood' thing going on, so maybe he'll still enjoy it. Hey! We should bake a cake that looks like his face. People love to eat their own face. They're very popu…"

"Tonks!" He interrupted her chipper babbling, and breathed in deeply to try to cleanse his irritation. "Please. I'm trying to read. We can discuss this later."

She could sense that she had upset him. She sat back up properly and reopened her book. "Sorry," she muttered meekly.

He felt badly for losing his temper, and wanted to apologize, but couldn't find a way to say it. He just sighed, and continued to read his book in peace.

An hour later, he had finished the book, and his reflections of this newfound information were interrupted by a loud thud to the side of him.

He turned to the couch to find Tonks curled up on the couch asleep, snoring gently with her back to him, and her book, which caused the sound, on the ground next to her.

He felt a sort of guilt as he got up from his armchair and walked toward the small figure. He picked up her fallen book and placed it on the table, and returned to her sleeping body.

"Tonks," he whispered as he prodded her gently on the shoulder, "C'mon let's go to bed." He received only vague mutters from her as she turned onto her other side, facing him, and continued to sleep soundly.

He got down on his knees so that he was face-to-face with her. "Tonks," he whispered gently again. He brushed a tucked a stray strand of green hair behind her ear, and leaned in so that his nose rubbed against her cheek, and kissed her on the side of her lips. "Tonks," he murmured into her ear.

She smiled in her sleep, but showed no signs of waking up. He sighed, taking her into his arms. "You're probably just pretending to sleep to make it harder for me." He hoisted her into his arms, and stood up, shutting their Muggle electrical light switch with his chin and carefully stepped out of the dark room, making sure he didn't bump her head against the doorframe.

As he started up the stairs, she began to stir in his arms, snuggling against his robe and opening her eyes slightly. "Where'd book go?" she asked, her voice thick from sleep.

"Well," he said, as he continued to climb the stairs, "It fell with a rather dreadful thud and now resides on the library table."

"Oh," she said in a small voice, her arms wounding their way around his neck. After a moment's silence, she added, "I'm sorry, Remus."

"Why?" he asked, looking down at her face in the dark.

"Because," she said remorsefully, "I'm not a very good reader."

He grinned, and adjusted her weight in his arms as he reached the top step, and made his way toward their bedroom. "Well, it's a good thing then that that's not why I like you," he said teasingly. He used his back to open their bedroom door, and gently set Tonks down on the bed. Tonks had started to doze off again, and he smiled as he took of her shoes and covered her with their comforter. He took off his robe and shoes, and placed them neatly on a chair.

As he was getting into bed next to her, he heard her ask sleepily, "Do you still love me then? Even though I'm a bad reader?"

He pulled the quilt up against him, and moved closer to her.

"Even more so. And you're my favorite book to read."

He could see her slight sleepy smile by the moonlight streaming through the window. He wanted to look at her forever, but soon, he grew sleepy too, and closed his eyes, his arm firmly around the woman next to him.

Your review would make my day.

To anyone interested in my other R/T fic, Something to Build On, I will be updating the last chapter soon. I'd say in less than two weeks? Thanks to everyone for reading! :)