Title: Just the Way You Are
Author: LupinLovesTonks
Rated: T due to future situations.
Disclaimer: HP & all others are trademarks of JK Rowling. No profit is made from the use of these trademarked entities. No animals were harmed in the typing of this fic. Void where prohibited, see store for complete rules and details. Any similarities to actual events are strictly a coincidence.

Chapter Two
Do we get to see her again today?

Remus opened his eyes and tried to block the morning sun peeking in through his bedroom curtains. He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. For once, could he get some sleep during the week proceeding the full moon? Was it too much to ask?

His heart began to beat rapidly as false memories of soft pink lips flashed through his mind. He could feel the wolf wanting to react, but not in the usual manner that meant it was wanting to feed. However, Remus had a vague idea as to what exactly this new urge the wolf was experiencing was all about. Especially when the wolf seemed to be going crazy anytime Remus remembered seeing Tonks' lovely pale stomach or one of her other feminine features.

It had been two days since his first meeting with Tonks. The two days had not been wasted or used just to avoid seeing her. He had actually done what he had said and read over the file on Greyback. It had not been a very pleasant experience, to say the least. Each of Greyback's victims had their own pages in the thick folder. Some had not survived their first transformation, most of them had.

Then Remus had found his profile. Several pictures of him from the age of five to eleven had been clipped to the top corner and one of him fresh out of Hogwarts was stuck over his name on the paper.

He had removed the earlier childhood pictures from the clip and had a laugh at the antics his young image made with his mother. The mother and child looked close and loyal to each other as his five year old self was being bounced on her knees or his eight year old self ran around her chair as she tried to catch him or his eleven year old self flew from the side of the picture and flung his arms around his mother's neck.

He had almost been tempted to floo his mother and see how she was doing, but then reality set in and he knew she would most likely be busy doing other exciting antics to speak with him. For some reason, after his father's death they had become distant and he had not wanted her to be there for him anymore. The pictures, however had brought back several wonderful memories that Remus treasured.

The one that had been posted above his name had involved so many emotions that Remus had almost been tempted not to read the profile. Himself, James, Sirius, and Lily were laughing and acting as if they hadn't a care in the world. Peter hesitantly would peek into the picture, as if checking to see if he was welcome to join the antics. But, as if sensing Remus' anger, Peter kept himself well out of view.

The contents of the file had made Remus realize exactly how different he had been from the other victims of Greyback.

Remus John Lupin

Above, far left.

Status: Non-feral

Comments: Very mild mannered and polite, not to mention witty. A rare, good credit to werewolf kind. We suspect his mother's hand in raising him after being bitten has much to do with this. Even attended and completed wizarding training at Hogwarts with favorable yearly analysis.

First analysis: Five years old

Comments: Very nervous and scared. Mother stayed with him through entire transformation. Displayed no aggression.

Most recent analysis: thirty-four years old

Comments: Stays at home alone on nights of full moon. Once turned, mostly sniffs around his home, occasional howling at the moon. In all honesty he acts like an over grown puppy.

Additional comments: Showed signs of wanting to display aggression after being on Wolfsbane potion for a year. However, after he stopped taking it, after a few months his behavior went back to normal. For more details and yearly analysis results, see his complete file.

Something about reading the small page on himself had made Remus feel less dangerous. But, at the same time, Remus knew better than to let that idea cement in his mind. The most recent analysis proved the fact that he only showed no aggression if and when there were no other people around. It was no indication as to how he would act in a situation that left him out in the open.

Tonks slowly floated back into his mind. He knew the exact moment due to the wolf leaping with joy. Convinced he was not going to actually be able to get any more sleep, Remus crawled out of his bed. The process was considerably normal during the week proceeding the full moon -- the lack of energy to even get out of the bed -- being coupled with a severe lack of sleep made it a very unpleasant day before it even got started.

His feet wanted to drag behind him as he forced himself to his bathroom for a quick shower. The shower, in the end, did no better job of waking him than his alarm clock had. After slowly getting dressed, he trudged to his kitchen only find all that was left in his icebox was barely a cup-full of out of date milk, a slice of cheese, and a small container of yogurt with fruit in it.

The back part of his mind curled up it's nose in distaste. The rather human part of Remus took the yogurt and grabbed a plastic spoon from the silverware drawer. He leaned against the kitchen cabinets as he nibbled on the yogurt.

Remus turned as he heard a noise. The door to the room Sirius was holding himself up in had opened and the huge black dog slinked across the room and went into the recently vacated bathroom.

Remus amused himself for a moment, waiting for Sirius to emerge from the bathroom again. When the black dog reappeared, Remus called, "Hey Sirius, too lazy to get clothes on to go to the bathroom again are we?" Sirius snorted slightly. "What is it boy?" Remus said with a falsely over dramatic tone. "Did Harry fall down a well?"

Sirius stopped his journey across the flat and looked at him. If Remus had been looking at the human face of Sirius, he would have been giving him a rather flat look. Still, Remus could not resist the temptation to persist when Sirius gave a slight growl.

"What was that Sirius? There's a flock of dementors attacking the flat?"

Sirius disappeared into his own room and the door slammed shut. Another few moments passed and Sirius, as his human self, stumbled from his room with some pants on. Sirius rubbed his eyes and yawned deeply.

"Why?" Sirius yawned. "Must you insist on doing Lassie every time I walk through?"

"Yes," Remus replied seriously. Sirius gave Remus a long, annoyed, gaze then went back into his room. Remus finished up the small container of yogurt. He set the empty container on the counter as he picked up his coat and put it on.

His eyes fell to the folder on Greyback, which he had left on the sofa, and he felt himself shudder. The fine line between what he was and what he could have been made him doubt himself. He had always been considered "safe" in the eyes of almost everyone. The folder alone proved exactly how the outcome of one evening could have been the deciding factor of what sort of werewolf he would become.

As he picked up the folder and tucked it safely into his coat, Remus made a mental note to at least owl his mother later and thank her. Then, once again, Remus set out for the underground. This day he picked a seat close to the doors, in case he had to make a quick get away. His eyes scanned the other seats on the compartment. Though he wasn't expecting anything, he realized he was looking to see if Tonks was going to board that day or not.

Perhaps she was already on, in some zany sort of get up that would not allow him to recognize her. There was a small group close to the end of the compartment that was dressed in all black, with heavy chains attached to their clothing, several sizes of earrings in their ears, and oddly cut and colored hair. His senses told him that she was not included within that particular group, so Remus decided to study his hands instead.

Remus was in the middle of trying to remove some yogurt from beneath his nail when someone collided with his shoulder. The person that bumped into him staggered a few steps before her companion helped her regain her footing. There was many things Remus could have told himself, but there was no mistaking the two bright streaks of pink in the thick black hair. When she turned and placed a hand on his shoulder, it confirmed the wolf's suspicions.

"Excuse me. Sorry. I didn't mean to…" A smile went across the bubblegum pink lips and the dark eyes flickered with amusement. "I'm just clumsy. Sorry."

Remus just nodded slightly and whispered, "It's alright."

It was a surprise of how cold his shoulder became once her hand was removed from it. His eyes stayed on her as she moved, arm-in-arm, with the "witch hunter" to take a seat almost directly across from him. Remus could feel the wolf surging with anger as he watched the man lean over and whisper softly into Tonks' ear then softly kiss her cheek. But, what did not go unmissed was the fact she seemed to be fighting the urge to recoil from him.

In spite of the noise, Remus could hear bits and pieces of what the two were saying.

"When are you going to get rid of the pink?" the man huffed.

"You knew when we got together that I was younger and very different from the life you lead Richard," Tonks sighed in a manner that said they had actually had the same conversation several times before. "Besides, it's not like pink is one of those colors you can easily dye out."

The man stayed quiet for a long moment. "That man is staring at you again."

"What man?"

"The one from the other day. He's on again and he's staring at you."

"Maybe he thinks I'm pretty," Tonks said with a teasing tone.

Richard snorted. "I doubt it. Anyone that thinks you're pretty with those pink monstrosities in your hair has to be a bit soft in the head."

"Fuck off Richard," Tonks snapped.

The wolf within Remus started to seethe with anger again. The wolf seemed to think Tonks looked absolutely lovely with the pink in her hair and felt that the muggle must pay for offending her. However, Remus quickly suppressed the wolf's urge to run across the compartment and throttle the life out of the man.

Remus' eyes met Tonks' and she grinned wickedly at him. She teasingly caressed her bottom lip with her fingertip then slowly trailed the finger down her chin and neck, past her breasts and stomach, and to the bottom of her skirt. Remus felt like all blood had drained from his body as she played with the edge of the fabric then slowly started drawing it above her knees.

Remus looked back up to her face and saw that the wicked little grin was still firmly in place. He could feel the blood that had so recently disappeared begin to creep to his face, the more she made the skirt creep up her thighs. Before long the skirt had reached the top most part of her lap and Remus was playing with hell fire trying to get the wolf to settle back down where it belonged. He was almost at he his breaking point when the underground reached his stop. Remus instantly leapt to his feet and rushed for the doors.

Once above the ground, he took a seat on a bench to catch his breath. The chatter of the surrounding people was making his head hurt until he heard Tonks' voice come out of the mix.

"I'll see you after you get off work," she was saying.

Through the masses of people, Remus could barely catch a glimpse of the two engaged in a long kiss goodbye. The wolf did not know whether to feel angry and cheated or sad and rejected over the fact Tonks seemed to actually be enjoying the kiss. As the two pulled away, and Tonks delicately wiped the corner of her mouth with her fingers. The wolf decided to just withdraw away.

After the so-called "Richard" left, Tonks looked around and finally saw Remus. Remus felt his heart jump the instant she smiled at him and hurried over. Just before she made it over to him, one of her heels slipped from under her feet and she was on a collision course with the sidewalk. Before Tonks could even register she was falling, Remus jumped forward and yanked her against him.

Panting, Tonks grasped his arms and looked up at him. "Are your reflexes always that quick or is it just a fortunate time of the month?"

"A little of both I think," Remus replied, steadying her back to a normal footing again. Tonks remained against him and holding his arms for a long moment before she flushed lightly and released him. Remus took a quick glance at her clothes, before looking away. "Would you like to change before we go any further?"

Tonks looked surprised, but smiled. "Actually, yes. There's a place close by here that'll let me change in their dressing rooms. Want to come along?"

Tonks looked up at him with an almost pleading look in her eyes. So, who was Remus to decline when he was really only going to the Ministry to try and get her alone to talk about the Order? Perhaps he would have a chance before they made it to the Ministry.

"Lead and I will follow."

The place ended up being half a block from the underground. Like with most wizarding shops, most muggles walked past it as if it was not there. However, a few muggles actually stopped to look at the window display and surprisingly enough, then went inside. At first the loud music made Remus' ears hurt, but then after a second the volume seemed to tune itself perfectly to where it was just right for his heightened senses.

A young woman behind the register squealed upon seeing Tonks and ran over to hug her. After a long moment of hugging and squealing, the young clerk looked Tonks over and pursed her lips disapprovingly.

"You're still on that bloody case, Dora?" the girl asked. "Why can't ya just arrest the larker and be done with him?"

"It's not that simple in the magical world," Tonks replied. "Especially since we have no real proof yet. But rest assured the first time I catch him baiting a wizard or witch, we'll have him. He's an effective lout. Very effective at not leaving any clues."

"But no new murders since you've been trailing him then?" Tonks shook her head. The clerk finally seemed to notice Remus' presence and looked surprised. "May I help ya find something sir? Have to forgive m' rudeness… We don't get many older gents in 'ere."

"He's with me," Tonks piped. "Reed, this is Remus Lupin. Remus, this is one of my friends, Reed. She runs the place."

The clerk shook Remus' hand firmly. "Oy. 'E 'as got a nice firm grip like ya say Dora." At this, Tonks turned a deep crimson, even more so when Reed began to nudge her with an elbow. "Let's go try a few things on ya, Dora. Got some new things in just yesterda' that I think ya migh' like."

Tonks collected the various items Reed had behind the counter and turned to Remus. "Want to come with me? It'd be nice to have a man's eye view for once."

Remus simply shrugged his shoulders and followed Tonks to the changing rooms at the back of the shop. Tonks disappeared into the changing room and emerged a few moments later with some black pants with chains all over them, a lime green t-shirt and matching short, spiky hair.

"Do you find me offensive?" Tonks barked out, then grinned widely.

"Not in the least," Remus chuckled.

"Why not?" Tonks huffed, with her fists on her hips. She put her nose in the air, in a mock offended manner, and turned on her heels. One of her feet caught on a chain from the other leg, causing her to stumble into the door of the changing room. "Well, that rules these out."

"Why does the lady here and that guy call you Dora?" Remus asked, as Tonks closed herself in the changing room again. He could feel his ears perk with every rattle of the chained pants she was removing.

"Well, for those that don't like calling me Tonks, they call me Dora."

"That didn't answer my question. There has to be a reason they chose 'Dora'," Remus pointed out.

"It's a rare treat, trust me. It's a very condensed version of my given name, which is Nymphadora." There was a loud thud from the changing room followed by Tonks yelping in slight pain. "And my mother wonders why I just go by my surname… Out right ludicrous to saddle a child with a name like Nymphadora. Took me forever to learn to pronounce it right."

Tonks emerged from the changing room again. This time she was in a pair of too-long shorts with more than enough pockets to humor any person, a dark purple t-shirt over a striped pink and black long sleeve shirt, and dark purple hair with pink tips. "Hang on…" Tonks looked in the big mirror outside of the changing room and squished her face for a moment as if heavy concentration. After a moment she straightened her face and smiled with approval. "Better. Well? What do you think?"

She turned toward Remus. Her face looked a shade or two paler with heavy, dramatic eyeliner, and shimmery blue lipstick. For a young adult, she looked ready to take on the world. Professionally, she looked like she could use some help dressing herself.

"Is the slightly paler too much?" Remus nodded slightly and Tonks squished up her face again and it faded back to her normal shade of pale. "Is that better?" Remus nodded again and Tonks smiled brightly. "REED! I found my outfit for today!"

Reed scurried to the back. "That be all then Dora?"

"Yeah I just needed something to get me out of that dress. I'll come back for the rest after I get paid."

Remus looked at his watch. To his surprise, it was nearly mid-day. He supposed this would be a better time than any to try and get Tonks to luncheon with him. "Tonks. Would you be interested in joining me for lunch before you go to the Ministry?"

Tonks seemed to have to catch her breath and just stared at him a long moment. "Wou-- I… yes! Of course, I'd love to go to lunch with you Remus."

For some reason, Remus had the sudden impression that perhaps she had taken his invitation in the wrong context. So, Remus resolved to put her right as soon as they arrived at wherever it was they picked for their luncheon.

AN: Don't forget, I have a forum open for the discussion of this fic and any questions you may have about it... ;)