Hello everybody! I'm really sorry for not updating so long, but life has just been so busy for me lately. My GCE O levels are around the corner (I like to think of it as a muggle form of OWLs) and I come home late from school everyday. I don't know how long the next update will take after this, but I'll try to get it up as soon as possible. :)

Oh, by the way, HBP is a great read! The RLNT parts weren't fully developed, I think, but the fact that they ARE together in the book rocks. And I cried like shit when Dumbledore died. If you haven't read it, go get it now:D

Forget love-- I'd rather fall in chocolate! –unknown

"Heeeeeeeyyy! Remus!"

Lupin looked up from the book he had been reading, trying not to feel too annoyed. For the past hour, Tonks had been calling him into the kitchen, showing him the designs she liked and asking him to choose the one he liked best. Often, the one he chose was the one Tonks would never pick. Both of them had decided that Tonks would be the one to do the designing, but the bad thing, Lupin had realized, that she was just too indecisive. Why can't she just choose a design and start making the costume already? Lupin thought in exasperation as he put down his book and apparated downstairs.

"There you are!" Tonks said. Lupin noticed that the look of frustration she had been wearing for the past hour was gone – a good sign; maybe she had finally chosen a costume design!

But as Lupin walked over to her side, he noticed that she had already gone a step further – the costumes had already been made!

"So what do you think?" Tonks asked, beaming, as she held up a chocolate jacket. It looked like brown denim. "Besides this jacket, you also get this." She gestured to a pair of jeans, a plain T-shirt and alas, she had even made chocolate shoes. "I've decided that maybe its best to go casual."

"Wow, Tonks, they're actually pretty good!" Lupin said, impressed. "I just hope they fit." He put a foot gingerly into one of the shoes. It was a perfect fit.

Tonks smiled. "And look at mine!" She held up a flowery (Lupin wondered how she had designed those intricate flowers) sundress and a pair of sandals. On her head was a chocolate sunhat.

"Er, Tonks, I think you might have forgotten something." Lupin said. He gestured to the window. Outside, snow was pouring heavily. "Look at this weather, Tonks. We'll freeze in these."

To Lupin's surprise, Tonks merely laughed. "Don't be silly!" She exclaimed, "Do you really think we're going to wear just the chocolate all the way there? We'll put on a sweater over the costume, or something! I've got it all planned out, there's no way we'll freeze." Her smiled widened, and Lupin could see the excitement sparkling in her eyes. "Oh, I can't wait for the competition!"

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"Oh!" Tonks whispered. "I can't believe it! It's here, it's the day itself! I'm so excited… I can't stand it!"

Lupin could not help smiling as he glanced at Tonks's anxious face. She was rubbing her hands nervously and looking around. The Big Day had finally arrived and the pair was outside Madam Curvy's Boutique. Both were wearing jackets over their costumes. The crowd was huge – Lupin had not expected so many to turn out. He could not help feeling nervous himself – this was sure to come out in the Daily Prophet or any other paper. What if he and Tonks made a fool out of themselves? They would be teased silly by Sirius and the others, and even though none of their friends currently knew about them entering the contest, Lupin had the feeling that the news would leak out soon.

"It'll be ok," Lupin told the anxious Tonks. "We'll just try our best… after all, we're just doing this to get rid of that egg faster, right?"

Tonks nodded, then sighed suddenly. "Can you imagine if we win?" She said suddenly. The prize was a hundred galleons – Madam Curvy had announced it earlier that day. That would be fifty each, and Lupin, who was not very well off, knew that the money would come in handy.

"All contestants, please come over and take a number tag," Madam Curvy called out just then. She was wearing a dress made of galleons – it looked pretty heavy and Lupin, remembering the dress she had worn in the photo of the Daily Prophet, had come to the conclusion that she was indeed quite a rich and proud lady.

"Oh, oh!" Tonks whispered as she and Lupin headed over. "I do hope we're not first!"

Madam Curvy held out a tag and Tonks took it with trembling hands. She glanced at it. "Oh no, Remus! We're third!"

"At least we're not first," Remus told her, trying to sound reassuring while feeling quite queasy himself.

"But – third! There must be at least fifty pairs competing here and we've got to be third!"

"Oh, Tonks." Lupin said, shaking his head slightly. "Calm down! At least being third means it'll be over soon enough – and we don't want to wait for our turn too long, do we?"

"I suppose so," Tonks whispered.

They sat in silence for about fifteen minutes. Tonks stared at her feet, biting her lips. Lupin thought of holding her hand to provide some comfort – it seemed like the right thing to do – but for some strange reason there seemed to be a huge mysterious force holding him back, and after a few unsuccessful attempts to reach out his hand he decided it was just the nerves and gave it up.

Just then the crowd began cheering and they looked up. Madam Curvy was announcing something. The competition was beginning!

The two hurried over. "Oh, I do hope the first two pairs are horrid," Tonks whispered.

Loud, techo-ish music began (both winced at the same time as it blared over the speakers) and an elderly couple walked up to the front of the stage. They were wearing what seemed to be butterbeer corks. They had somehow managed to fashion it to look slightly like a dress, and dungarees, which both the female and male were wearing respectively.

"They're not bad," Lupin whispered to Tonks.

"I think my dress is melting," Tonks whispered back.

"What!" Lupin looked up in alarm.

Tonks managed a smile. "Just joking." She whispered.

"Oh god, that was --" but the elderly couple were leaving the stage and the judges had begun whispering, and Lupin was distracted almost at once.

"And now, for our next pair of contestants, Maisy and Daisy Pill, a pair of identical twins! Just look at them!" Madam Curvy cried suddenly.

"We better go backstage." Tonks whispered.

The two scurried off just as two young girls pranced up, both wearing costumes made of ice. The result was that the costumes were translucent, and Lupin could see some men's mouth falling open as the two posed. He himself looked away carefully from the twins.

"That's just gross," Tonks hissed as they went backstage. Some men were catcalling. "I wonder how they don't freeze in those atrocious things."

"I think they must have put a charm on themselves to prevent themselves from turning too cold or something." Lupin replied. He took off his jacket slowly, and Tonks did the same. Luckily for them, their costumes were still well and intact, and had not melted.

"Well, we look pretty good, I must say." Tonks said as they gazed at their reflections in a full-length mirror in front of them. "You look quite spiffy really, I think chocolate suits you!"

Lupin laughed. "You looked quite nice yourself." He told her, and it was true – the sundress was really quite pretty on Tonks despite that it was made brown.

Just then, the Pill twins came in, giggling and whispering. They looked up, saw the pair, and laughed. "It's your turn now," One of them said, "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Lupin replied as the two dashed into the changing rooms. Tonks scowled.

The two carefully linked hands and walked onstage.

"And now we have Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, a pair of good friends! Mmm, they look good enough to eat, don't they!"

"I'm freaking out here." Tonks hissed in Lupin's ear.

"You're not alone," Lupin hissed back. "I think I'm getting a bad case of stage fright."

They walked up to the front of the stage, both trying to muster their biggest, sunniest smile. That was when Lupin noticed someone in the crowd that made his smile slide off his face – Severus Snape. He was watching them, an amused smile on his face. He caught sight of Lupin looking at him and shook his head, his smile growing wider. Lupin did not like the look of that smile.

Cameras flashed and for a moment Lupin went quite blind. Then the pair turned and returned backstage.

"I saw Snape in the crowd." Lupin told Tonks when they were finally backstage.

"What!" Tonks looked up in horror. "Oh, no… of all people! We're goners now, I bet he's going to tell everyone we're in this contest to make a fool out of us."

"He probably won't do such childish things." Lupin sighed, shaking his head as he remembered Snape's twisted smile. "Well, let's go get changed."

Tonks scooped up her clothes. "We actually did it, Remus!" She said happily as she entered the changing room. "I do hope we win!"

TBC

So will they win? Find out in the next chapter:D Hoped you guys like this one. And oh, before I forget, the usual quick acknowledgements!

Thanks to mercutio-rane, Goldpen, TicTacTurtle, Lady Edelweiss, starnat, LilypEoVtAtNeSr, thehpgang, Sharivari, Rosiemary, lupinsmoon12391, Sugar-Coated-Goodbyes, Dragonkeeper and Evil Shall Giggle .Your comments were greatly appreciated. :)