waves Hullo all. This is my first story that I'm submitting that is not co-authored with the delightful AsvoriaGranger13. For those of you wanting Chapter 4 of our story on As' account, sorry for the delay, we're experiencing technical difficulties " Anyway, I wrote this a while ago (like November) in the middle of the night when I began to doodle pictures of Tonks. In the end, I drew a picture of a sick Tonks, and then everything came out from there. So yes, there probably will be some strange, random bits to it. Read and critique to yer heart's content!
Summary: 'In the end, she came up with several conclusions. One: Being sick made one think of very strange things. Two: She really should wear blue more often, and three- "He's pretty darn cute." She said aloud before falling asleep.' In which Tonks discovers that maybe she likes Remus as more than just a friend.
Pairing: Remus Lupin/ Nymphadora Tonks
Disclaimer: If I owned any of the following people, I'd be richer than Queen Elizabeth II. But I'm not, and JK Rowling is. Oh well, I still have uber spiffeh boots.
Sunlight creeped through a London flat's windows, sliding behind the blinds and lighting up the bedroom. It was a nice enough room as rooms go, but not what someone would think was a typical bedroom for an Auror. Posters of rock and alternative bands of the Wizarding World were plastered on most of the walls, and the floor was covered in parchment. A bookshelf was full of random and usually very sparkly trinkets, ranging from what might have actually had a purpose at some point, to useless junk that most people would just throw out. A stack of what looked to be sappy romance novels that were half-charred were at the foot of the bed, next to a jumble of books on Quidditch. On the bed itself were a mass of what appeared to be very comfortable blankets, and a lump began to shift and move underneath it all, what sounded like faint grumbling coming from it as it did so.
The lump tumbled off the bed, snagging the covers as it did so that only a mop of blonde hair could be seen, and began to drag itself towards the open bathroom door. Every now and then the blonde gave a sniff, grumbling all the way. When it reached the sink, it let the blanket fall, and as it slid off, she sneezed. With it, her hair turned maroon, while her skin turned a very interesting shade of green. The shock didn't really come until she looked into the mirror, her scowl turning into open-mouthed horror, and a thin shriek came out. But it ended quite abruptly as she sneezed again, turning her hair a fluorescent orange.
Nymphadora Tonks' day was going very badly. She woke up feeling as though she had been trampled by a troll, and then, she realized why: she had a cold. Metamorphagi are some of the grumpiest people when they are sick, and for very good reason. Uncontrollably turning random colors when you sneeze or cough not only scares people half to death, but is an unflattering experience. They also tend to change height, so they often don't know when they may slam their heads into a doorway, or get stepped on. So very unappreciated. With a sigh, the woman stomped off to her fireplace, connected through to the Auror's department, and stuck her head in the green flames.
"Kingsley?" She called, scaring an intern that was walking by. She scowled at him when he ogled at her appearance (purple hair, long nose and red eyes), and he decided it was in his best interest to run away while he could. "Kingsley!" She repeated, getting more vexed by the moment. The fellow Auror luckily arrived a little while later, looking rather upset himself. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Tonks snapped in a few words. "Tell Scrimgeour I'm calling my sick day." She was about to stick her head back in, when Kingsley spoke. "Order?" She swiveled her head around and fixed him with a red eye. "Do you think I'd do something today when I look like this?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes. "I can't stop sneezing and my head hurts. I barely got myself over to my fireplace, of course not!" Kingsley winced, but nodded his head, and Tonks retreated back into her apartment.
However, Tonks did plan on leaving her house. However, it was only to go and hide in Number 12, where she could grumble at her cousin Sirius and be safe in the custody of Molly. With the thoughts of Molly and her delicious cooking, the Auror quickly dressed, pulling a hood over her face so that she wouldn't scare everyone when they saw her, and then spun on her heel, sneezing just before doing so.
The woman arrived just outside Number Twelve with a pop, a scowl on her now-green face. Grumbling and sneezing all the way, she trudged up the walk and was about to slam her fist against the door when she remembered Sirius' mother, and just lightly tapped the door. That didn't work however, because if you only tap on a door, no one will notice you're freezing your butt off in the snow, and already have a cold. With a frown, she brought her fist down harder on the wood. Still nothing. Scowling, she grabbed the knocker and rammed it against the wood viciously, causing an eruption of screams from the old woman's portrait. Cursing came from inside as well, and someone finally had the heart to wrench open the door. In the doorway stood Sirius, looking very annoyed, and was about to start a very long tirade before Tonks poked him in the chest. "Move or I'll sneeze on you. I'm not in a good mood." He blinked but moved out of the way, probably catching a glimpse of the gigantic wad of tissues that Tonks was holding to her nose.
"Who is it?" Called Molly from the kitchen, and Sirius hollered back at her. "It's Tonks and she's threatening to sneeze on me." The red-haired woman poked her head out of the kitchen, and was about to lecture Tonks as well, before the woman dropped her hood. Her lip was wobbling and her orange eyes were starting to water. She had a mane of black hair that would have made James Potter proud, and her skin was frostbite blue. "Oh you poor thing!" Molly exclaimed, and was instantly at her side, ushering the sniffling Tonks into the kitchen. However, she sneezed right before they got in, not only making Mrs. Black explode again, but causing the Metamorphagus to slam her head against the door way. "Just sit down dear, I'll get you some tissues and a nice warm cup of tea." Nodding, Tonks slumped down on the offered chair, and burrowed into her cloak, holding back a sneeze.
Most of the morning Tonks was constantly sneezing at the kitchen table, Mrs. Weasley fussing over her as she changed. She had brought the Auror a nice, warm sweater she said 'Was going to give you for Christmas, but you look so cold, and you really need to wear more than just a cloak in cold weather' that Tonks was very thankful for. Molly made Sirius stay out, however, she didn't want everyone to have a cold. After a small bowl of oatmeal, the motherly woman sent Tonks up to her Number Twelve room, where she slept for most of the day.
By three o'clock, Tonks was very close to delirious. Molly was very worried, as the young woman had a fever, but Tonks being Tonks, tried to help out. She barely made it down the stairs, as she tripped over the rug and went tumbling to the first floor landing. Molly then settled her down in the living room on a couch under lots of blankets, and informed her to stay and rest.
At a little past five, Tonks had trundled off to the bathroom in search of more tissues, and found the entire box empty. Frowning, she stumbled through out the rest of the first floor, only to find there were none. Getting more and more frustrated, she finally found a box, and was about to grab a tissue when she put her hand in and found it too was empty. That just set her off. Snatching the box up, she stomp-tripped herself to the kitchen, where she would address the issue as civilly as possible.
"WHO TOOK ALL OF THE TISSUES!" She snarled into the room, making the occupants jump. Molly wasn't there, only Remus and Kingsley, who had probably been talking about something incredibly important that Tonks did not care in the least about. She only cared about her tissues. "Mundungus came by earlier and used some." Said Kingsley, obviously trying to be as helpful as possible. "HE USED THEM ALL!" She screeched, causing Mrs. Black to burst for the third or fourth time that day. Before the two men could say more, she had stumbled off back to the rest of the house, shouting hoarsely at Mrs. Black to put a sock in it.
Tonks still had found no tissues, and she had probably searched the entire house by now. Sirius didn't know where any were, and Molly had decided to go out shopping just in her time of crisis. She had successfully frightened Kingsley and Remus, so she didn't even bother talking to them again, and Kreacher just hissed at her angrily and stalked off, making Tonks even more mad. Life just felt amazingly cruel. Finally, in anguish, she gave up, and trudged to the kitchen, and threw herself into a chair where she buried herself into her sweater and sniffled.
"Are you alright Nymphadora?" In her wallowing, she didn't protest at her first name, but looked up from her self-pity to find that Remus was, in fact, still there, sitting in the chair near her. "No. I'm right miserable is what I am." She said sadly, resting her head back on the table. "I'm sorry." Said Remus, and Tonks peered up at him again. He was always so polite, she thought, blearily staring at her companion. And kind. He would smile and help those who hated him, who shunned him, and he just brushed it off. Tonks knew that his actions never changed those people, as did Remus, which partially confused her. Why do something kind that was lost in hate? Shaking her head, she tried to clear her pounding thoughts. Her last rather philosophical thought was 'He doesn't deserve what they do to him.' "S'not your fault. Stop saying sorry, it's making it worse." She said grumpily, burying her face in her arms again.
This left Remus very quiet, and suddenly Tonks wondered if she had hurt the werewolf's feelings. This made her quiet as well, and uncomfortably she shifted in her seat, staring intently at the cabinets on the other side of the room. The silence stretched on for a bit, until Tonks let out a very loud sneeze, changing again. She groaned, and then began to search for something to wipe her nose with, when a neat little white cloth was offered to her. Blinking, she took the cloth, blew her nose, and looked at Remus curiously. He had a small smile on his tired face, his grey-brown eyes kind.
"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but couldn't you just have given it to me earlier?" The older man gave a slight laugh before speaking. "You didn't ask." Scowling, she wiped her nose again, but it quickly faded into the first smile of the day. "Thanks Remus. Um, I'll give it back when it's clean an' stuff, promise…." But the werewolf shook his head, smiled a bit wider, and got up, making to leave. "You don't need to, Nymphadora. Get some sleep and drink some more tea, it might bring your fever down." And then, he walked out the door.
Tonks just sat there, clutching the handkerchief to her. Usually, she hated it when people called her Nymphadora, she had always thought it was a stuffy sort of name. True, her parents called her Nymph, her friends from school had called her Dori for a while, but she never really let anyone call her Nymphadora. Except for Remus J. Lupin. (How do you know his middle initial? Said her tittering part of her mind, and she shrugged. No idea.) At first she was just a little annoyed, then, it was half-hearted, and then, she had gotten used to it. Even, dare she say it, grown to like it? Maybe it was because Remus was the one who was calling her that.
Upon meeting Remus J. Lupin (Hm, it's fun to call him that.), she had instantly decided he was a very fun person, if one poked him enough. When not polite and formal, he had a wicked sense of humor, and was extremely sarcastic. And he was as graceful as she was clumsy. HE never tripped over his feet, or stumbled down a staircase, or dropped dishes, or anything of that sort. Oh no, he could catch everything, easily glide everywhere he went, and, had enough to spare so that he could help others up. That brought back the memory of her first day at Number Twelve, when she had tripped over the hat stand by the door, and there he was, catching her before she hit the floor. All of these things also infuriated her, because sometimes he just seemed too perfect to be human, at which point the ugly reminder that he wasn't all human slapped her in the face, making her feel guilty for ever thinking such a thing. Why did they all have to be so confusing?
For the next hour or so, she sat there, pondering the subject of Remus. She soon was very tired, her head swimming some more, and she put her head back on the table, trying to ease the pain. In the end, she came up with several conclusions. One: Being sick made one think of very strange things. Two: She really should wear blue more often, and three- "He's pretty darn cute." She said aloud before falling asleep.
Ask any questions, and I'll be more than happy to answer!