Hey people! It's been long but I'm finally back with an update! Hope you guys haven't forgotten wee little me. ) I've been real busy, what with college life and everything. But I'm really happy to proclaim that I've been accepted to the college of my dreams! Thus I decided to get on with continuing this story. D Enjoy!

'This guy found a bottle on the ocean, and he opened it and out popped a genie, and he gave him three wishes. The guy wished for a million dollars, and poof! There was a million dollars. Then he wished for a convertible, and poof! There was a convertible. And then, he wished he could be irresistible to all women... poof! He turned into a box of chocolates.'
- Anonymous

Sunday afternoon, 4pm

Remus Lupin stood in front of his wardrobe mirror, staring at himself.

He was wearing the best suit he had – a grey one, a gift from his mother a few years back ("It's time you start dressing like a gentleman," she had said upon presenting it to him) but despite that it was rather tattered and old. As it was his best suit, Lupin had worn it to several more, well, formal occasions. It may be his best suit, but it certainly wasn't new.

In about two hours time, he'd be meeting Tonks for their dinner at Puddifoot's. It was not like Lupin to care a lot about his appearance - what was the point, really, when he did not have the ability to afford something good enough to make him look better? Besides, his transformations took a toll on him and there was nothing he could do to prevent the graying hair and premature lines. He had long given up on dying his hair back to its original brown colour.

However, for some reason, he felt some need to put in more effort for this particular dinner date. Maybe it was partly the fact that he had not been out on a formal dinner date for a long time – he could hardly afford dinners like this and besides, his work for the Order meant that there was not much time left for him to eat a good, long dinner – usually it was quick takeaways, a sandwich, or sometimes nothing at all. This dinner was really a treat, and Lupin felt the need to make more of an effort for it.

Or was it the fact that it was a dinner with a girl, who would undoubtedly put a huge emphasis on appearance? He wasn't sure if Tonks was that kind of person, she certainly did not look like one… but still, Lupin felt rather inclined to dress up for her sake, too. No point spoiling a good dinner by dressing too shabbily.

Lupin glanced at his clock. Half past four. He decided to have a nice cup of coffee first before going to meet Tonks – they would be meeting at Hogsmeade.

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"Hey Remus!"

Lupin looked up and smiled. The bright bubblegum pink hair was not hard to miss. Tonks stood next to a signpost, waving energetically at Lupin's direction.

He hurried over. "Hey there," he greeted, smiling. "So… shall we go?"

Tonks nodded, and the two set off. Lupin took in her appearance as they headed to the restaurant. She was wearing a skirt – a dark blue denim one with a tiny picture of a wizard's hat at the bottom right corner. Lupin had never seen Tonks in a skirt before – she was always clad in simple jeans and T-shirt. Yes, she had worn a chocolate dress for the competition, but it seemed really rather different from a real cloth skirt. She was also wearing a white blouse with cute buttons – star-shaped ones- something very different from her usual shirts.

"You look pretty good today," Lupin complimented, smiling slightly.

Tonks turned to look at him. "Really?" she smiled. "Thanks, Remus! This top is new, you know – I just got it last week."

"It suits you." Lupin told her. Tonks' smile widened, and she pointed out, more animatedly than usual, the new fiery chocolate tarts that were on sale in Honeydukes.

They soon reached Puddifoot's. Lupin pushed opened the door and the two entered.

For a split second, Lupin thought there was something wrong with his eyes – why had the world gone pink? Then he realized that that was the colour of the whole restaurant – pink, in different shades. The counter was pink, the chairs and tables were pink, the walls, ceiling, floor tiles, doors…all pink. Couples sat at their respective tables. Most of the guys seemed to be enjoying themselves, but Lupin had a feeling they were only putting on a show for their girlfriends.

As the two headed towards an empty table, Tonks hissed in Lupin's ear, "Oh, gosh. Did I mention that I hate pink?"

Lupin smiled. "Then why is your hair that colour all the time, may I ask?"

Tonks laughed. "It's to make a statement. Besides, a lot of people have told me pink hair suits me. But – just look at this! This is too much."

"It is pretty disturbing," murmured Lupin, fingering his chair, which was shaped as a heart.

A waitress came up just then, holding two menus.

"Hello there!" She greeted them warmly as she handed the two the menus. "We're having a special offer today. Today, you can get the Couple Set Dinner for a twenty percent discount! Besides, you get a free rose to present to your girlfriend here!" She winked at Lupin.

He felt his face grow hot. "She's not my girlfriend." He said quickly.

The waitress's eyes widened, and she went slightly red too. "Oh – in that case… there are plenty other sets to choose from." She said quickly, gesturing at the menus, before hurrying off.

There was a rather awkward silence. Finally, Tonks said, with a small smile, "You have to admit, that was kind of funny."

"Not to mention embarrassing…" murmured Lupin.

Tonks shook her head. "Is it very embarrassing to be thought of as my boyfriend?" she asked. As Lupin shook his head quickly, she added, "come on, let's order."

Lupin stared at her. Was it his imagination, or had she sounded hurt? Besides, to answer her last question, he'd have thought it would be the other way round...

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"At least the food was good," Tonks commented as the two stepped out of the restaurant about an hour later. "and the portion was big. I don't think I've felt so full before in my entire life!"

Lupin chuckled. "Yes, but I have to admit, the best part was the dessert."

At this, Tonks laughed. "That chocolate fondue was huge! With that chocolate egg back home, I was amazed that you could actually eat it."

Lupin shrugged, smiling. "Well, I've always loved chocolate. I was sick of the egg, but give me chocolate in a different form, and I think I can still take it."

Tonks remembered how Lupin had looked so happy devouring chocolate in the chocolate competition, and smiled too. It seemed that the two of them had been hanging out together a lot since that fateful day, she mused to herself, and she had pretty much enjoyed his company. She hadn't really known him very well before, and her impression of him, when she had first joined the Order, was that he was a rather serious man, rather like a teacher. But now, she was relaxed around him, and she actually had fun when he was around!

"A knut for your thoughts?" Lupin asked, looking at her face. She seemed deep in thought.

"Oh, nothing much." Tonks said, smiling up at his face. I'd thought hanging around him would be pretty weird because I'm so much younger than him, she thought, but no, I don't feel immature or anything weird at all when I'm with him. In fact, I can act like myself… without being called nosey, or clumsy, or talkative, as many do!

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"So, you said you had a wonderful idea for Ron's birthday present, involving the chocolate egg?" Lupin asked Tonks.

The two were in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. They had moved the egg down, so it was standing next to the table they were seated at. Both were waiting for Sirius to come down to join them; he was currently busy feeding Buckbeak his daily supply of rats.

"Yep," Tonks replied cheerfully. She brushed back her pink hair and said, "you know how Ron loves chocolate – the way he devours those Honeydukes bars! Using the egg is like killing two birds with one stone – we get to get rid more of that stupid thing, and Ron will be happy with the gift."

"But it's not very original giving him chocolate, don't you think?" came a voice. Sirius entered the kitchen, holding an empty, blood-stained sack. "I bet about a thousand other people will be giving him food."

"It's not just chocolate." Tonks said. "I have a wonderful idea. AND, it'll probably use up about half of that egg with this gift!"

"What is it, then?" Lupin asked just as the same time as Sirius said, rather impatiently, "get on with it, my dear!"

"Well, we all know how Ron adores Quidditch," Tonks said, "so I was thinking, we could use the chocolate to make some stuff again, like how we made those costumes, Remus – you know, we could make all the quidditch balls they have, the snitch, the quaffle and all that – and we could make a nice big chocolate broomstick, and put a flying spell on it so Ron can fly on it for a while, then he can eat it when the spell wears off!"

"Eat it after he rides on it?" Lupin said in amazement. "That's kind of unhygienic, isn't it?"

"He won't mind, boys never do." Tonks said. To Lupin's slight surprise, Sirius nodded in agreement.

"This is a good idea, Tonks," he said. "and it would last a long time, making all these quidditch stuff, I won't feel so bored for some time." He grabbed a piece off the egg as Lupin and Tonks glanced at each other. "Ok," he said, looking up at them; and Lupin was glad to see that for the first time in ages, he actually looked rather excited. "I'm going to start with a bludger!"

TBC

Finally! The sixth chapter complete! Sorry it took me soooooo long. I hope I haven't been forgotten! Anyway, here are the usual acknowledgements:

Thanks lupinsmoon12391, Catchcat, starnat, thehpgang, TicTacTurtle, raykoRavenclaw, Tonksmoonlight, SilverMoonShining. Sweetdeath04, me (again) whoever you are, lol, Lena, krumfan, Rogue-aka-Nettie AND Randomisation. Big hugs!

Please read and review!