Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Flashback
"So it looks like the shop's really coming along, huh?" Tonks asked as her eyes traveled over the crowded shelves and boxes that made up Fred and George's entire life's work.
Fred nodded. "Oh yeah, it's great. The best part though, is being able to show Mum that we really could do something with our lives after dropping out of Hogwarts and our dismal OWL scores!"
"But enough about us. What brings you into our establishment this afternoon, Tonks? Can we interest you in something from our defense line?" George cut in.
Tonks kept her eyes fixed on the products in front of her. "Actually, I'm looking for a gift."
"Relative?"
"Friend?"
"Girl?"
"Boy?"
"Lover?"
At that last one, Tonks coughed. She didn't really want to know what kind of products the twins were concocting for couples.
"Methinks that last one might be the ticket, Fred," George winked at Tonks who blushed a fierce shade of red.
"I wish," she mumbled quietly. Fred narrowed his eyes.
"So what you're really looking for is a gift for yourself, am I right? Well, we do have a wide assortment of love potions. Different flavors. Untraceable, you name it, we've got it."
Tonks's eyes widened. "I'm not giving him a love potion. I'm not that desperate!"
George threw up his hands in defense. "All right, we were just trying to cover all the bases. So uh, who exactly is this bloke then?"
Tonks looked away again, preoccupying herself with a bucket of fake wands. She didn't really want to tell Fred and George that she had a thing for a former professor of theirs.
"He's just a friend. I mean, he's a stubborn friend because he won't-Well, let's just say that there could be more." She said quickly, still refusing to meet either twin eye to eye.
"Ah, so we're looking for a gift, romantic or otherwise, for a middle-aged werewolf with self esteem problems and a thick enough head to refuse to date you," Fred said as he pulled Tonks's arm towards a particular shelf.
"What! How on Earth do either of you possibly know that!" Tonks spluttered, her face another brilliant shade of pink.
George gave her a mischievous smirk. "Our mother was never very good at keeping secrets."
Tonks groaned. "And I ask myself how the situation could get any worse?"
Fred pulled a box off the shelf. "Relax, besides, now we know exactly how to help you without you leaving out any quasi important details. And pick out exactly the right gift. Nothing too committing or weird, just friendly enough to be seen as a friendly gesture with slightly more behind it then it seems!"
"What are you talking about?" Tonks asked, confused as Fred handed her the box. "What's this?"
George smiled. "That is a Patented Daydream Charm. Guaranteed to give the subject a good half hour of harmless (for the most part) fun."
Tonks raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I mean, it's a little strange to give as a gift to a guy you kind of wish was more. Don't you think?"
"Well this way you can always tell him it's a gag gift. You're not going to be giving him anything serious, so no awkwardness should really ensue," Fred assured her.
"Why, if it were me, I'd love one of these as a gift!" George added.
Tonks looked back down at the box and sighed. "All right. The two of you have managed to convince me. I'll take it."
Fred beamed. "Wonderful!" As Tonks fumbled in her bag for money, he gave his brother a look. George stared back at him blankly. Fred widened his eyes and inclined his head towards Tonks. And through some twin mind reading, George understood. He came up behind Tonks and reached a hand out and pulled a strand of hair.
"Ow! What the hell are you doing, George?" Tonks clutched her head and wheeled around.
George smiled at her. "Sorry, thought there was something in your hair. Here, let me gift wrap that for you." His hand shot out and grabbed the box off the counter before she could protest. He and Fred darted into the back room, leaving Tonks standing there, quite bewildered.
"Give it here, George! Do you think it will really work?" Fred asked as he opened the bottle and poured its contents into a large beaker.
George pulled the cork off another small bottle and poured it in afterwards. "It should. Just one hair and it'll turn the daydream into one with a very familiar character." He added the hair he had plucked from Tonks' head and grinned.
"And we're not telling her because?"
"Because then she'll be too scared to give it to him. Remember, we're just the 'innocent bystanders' in what is sure to end up happening anyway." George picked up the beaker and swirled the liquid around. It fizzed slightly and they watched the hair dissolve. They both made a face before he poured it back into the bottle.
"Where did you come up with that?" Fred asked, smirking as he put the bottle back in the box.
George shrugged. "Dunno. I heard Mum say it."
They pulled the curtain back and reentered the shop. Fred handed Tonks the box. She thanked them and left quickly, not wanting to look over at the love potions for fear that yes, she just might feel that desperate. She was too preoccupied to notice that the box was indeed not gift wrapped.
Remus sat up on the sofa. No matter what position he started off in, this particular sofa always seemed to swallow him up until he was halfway slid down and he was reading his book at a particularly funny and not very comfortable angle. He sighed as he glanced at the clock. It was only eight thirty, yet he contemplated sleep. Yesterday had worn him out completely. Not only physically after apparating to Hogsmeade and raging around in the snow, but emotionally. He had behaved abominably and he knew it. So the draw of his small bed was very appealing.
He stood up and walked to the kitchen. Perhaps he'd make himself a cup of tea. "Yes, then you can go stick your head in the oven," he thought bitterly. He reached for the box of tea in the cupboard. After fumbling a moment, he found it. Remus looked at the box to open it.
"What is this doing here?" he asked the empty kitchen. It was that present Tonks had given him. Tonks. He clutched his hands together convulsively. He still felt awful about the night before. But of course, being the absolute pillock he was, he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it.
"Coward." The little voice inside of him had really been kicking the shit out of him lately. Figures.
Remus studied the small box. "The Patented Daydream Charm." Left to his own devices, Remus would never have brought himself to buy something like this for himself. No matter how curious he was to see how well it worked, or really, how it worked in the first place. He turned the box over and read the directions.
Looking around the small room, as if expecting someone to jump out and catch him in the act of doing something so silly, he slid the bottle out of the box. He unscrewed the cap slowly.
"Oh what the hell?" he said as he grasped the bottle and tossed it back.
Remus lifted his head. He felt quite groggy. He groaned. His head was pounding and he had a headache.
"Here! Drink this." A hand shoved a cup under his nose. He took it and looked up. He let out a yell and almost dropped the cup. Madame Pomfrey was standing next to his bed. He looked down and started at the fact that he was lying in a hospital bed in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.
"This. Is a very strange daydream. Merlin, I hope this daydream doesn't involve her," he thought to himself as he drank the liquid in the cup. Immediately he felt his headache subside and everything became much clearer.
"Are you feeling better, Professor?" she asked. He looked up. Professor?
"Uh, yes. I'm fine!" he said cheerfully, hoping that would be his ticket out of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey nodded and left. Remus swung his legs over to the side, thankful that he was still fully dressed.
Leaving the hospital wing, he watched his surroundings. This was definitely Hogwarts. And as he walked, he didn't really know where he was going until he suddenly ended up there. "That's rather convenient," he thought as he turned the doorknob to the classroom that had been his three years ago.
Upon stepping inside, Remus just about lost his mind. There they were, seventh years that he distinctly remembered teaching three years ago. Some faces were so familiar, he remembered their names, how well they had done in the class. Others were a little fuzzier but all in all, it was one of the strangest feelings he'd ever encountered.
"All right there, Professor?" a boy named Patrick asked. Remus smiled and nodded as he walked to the front of the class. And just like his body had mysteriously walked him to the classroom, he launched into a lecture. It was quite astounding and again, Remus had that feeling that he was somehow watching himself teach from some other vantage point. Until he noticed her. The sight of her sitting there in the second row, placed surreptitiously amongst the other students, sent him back down again.
She smiled at him. It was a small, rather secretive smile. Remus felt himself falter slightly. He cleared his throat and turned to the blackboard that he had been writing on. Once he found his voice again, he started talking to the board, not wanting to turn around and see her sitting there.
However, even though he really didn't feel like it was him talking, whoever it was talking found that he had to turn around eventually. So Remus tried his very best to keep his eyes moving around the classroom. After one sweep of the classroom, though, he failed miserably and found himself looking at her again. He noticed that she was wearing a Hogwarts robe and it made him wonder where his subconscious came up with the image of her in one.
Not that it bothered Remus horribly. In fact, he thought she looked rather good. "Stop thinking that you lecherous old man!" he shouted at himself, all the while delivering a speech about banshees. He snuck another glance. Merlin, she looked incredible. Her robe was open and he could see her white blouse underneath. The top button was undone and her tie was slightly loose.
Remus made a sharp turn, intending to look at the board again, when he collided with the first row of desks. A few snickers erupted from the class.
"Are you ok, sir?" a concerned girl asked. Remus looked up.
"I'm um, well, I think that's enough for today. Class dismissed." He sat down at the desk at the front of the room and sighed, raking a hand through his hair.
The chairs scraped against the stone floor as the students started filing out of the room. Pretty soon, the room was quiet and Remus felt it was safe to look up.
It wasn't quite a scream, but he definitely let out an audible noise when he noticed that she was still sitting in her desk. Well actually, she wasn't, Remus noticed as he looked closer. She was sitting on her desk. Her legs were crossed and she was once again smiling at him.
"Tonks?" he asked quietly. He was still trying to figure out the daydream and how it was that she was in it.
She slid off the desk and started walking towards him. Remus started inwardly panicking. After all, this was insane. Was this what his subconscious mind came up with to daydream? Lusting over a student?
She was now standing very close to him. So close that he caught a whiff of that familiar scent in her hair. It was intoxicating. She leaned close to his ear. "You don't have to call me that anymore, we're alone."
Remus shot her a confused look. "But-but you hate your first name. What am I supposed to call you?"
Tonks slid her arms around his neck. "Silly, don't you remember? You always call me, Dora. And you," she kissed his earlobe softly, eliciting a small sigh from Remus, "are the only person allowed to call me Dora."
One of her hands reached up to tangle in his hair as she continued to kiss his neck. "Dora." It came out in a breathless whisper. Remus tried to put a finger on how she seemed to know exactly what to do.
"Well, this is your daydream, dolt. That might have something to do with it. But while we're on the subject, I might remind you that she is a student, Remus! And even though it's not really happening, it's still not right!" Oh yes, that little voice was certainly getting its enjoyment out of this.
Remus hadn't noticed how close they were to his desk until Tonks backed him into it, forcing him to sit down on top of it. She stood there looking at him with large doe eyes. A beautiful capture of innocence.
"Stuuudent!" The little voice was rather sing-songy now.
"Stop! Tonks, we can't do this. You're a-you're a student," he finished lamely as she sort of straddled his legs.
"I turned 17 two days ago. It's all right now," she said, snaking her arm up under his shirt.
Remus didn't know what to do. He was rather trapped. Tonks had more or less effectively pinned him to the desk.
"Relax. You're very tense. Look, no one's going to come in here. You don't have any more classes until tomorrow and I locked the door," she said, waving her wand in front of him.
Remus tried to smile to reassure himself. After all, it was just a daydream. But somehow, the situation had that feeling where it felt extremely right but also, just as much wrong. "You uh, seem to have given this a fair bit of thought," he said, trying to stall for more time.
She smirked. "Well, I have been waiting for a Very. Long. Time," and with each word, she undid one of the buttons from the top of his shirt.
Remus still couldn't figure out how the daydream charm had picked up on this particular situation. He hadn't ever felt any attraction to any of his students whatsoever. But now, the sight of Tonks in a Hogwarts uniform was one of the most arousing things he had ever seen. And it wasn't helping that her uniformed self was currently pressing up against certain parts of him he would never have asked a student to attend to.
"I think that maybe we should talk about this before-" But Tonks pressed her lips to his and he couldn't finish his sentence.
"And I think we've talked long enough about this. Now, please just relax and enjoy your bloody daydream." With that, she captured his lips in a bruising kiss which Remus seemed to feel all the way down to his toes. All of a sudden, he felt perfectly prepared to just shut up and enjoy his bloody daydream as she had instructed. And as she finally undid the last button on his shirt, it looked like he already had.
"Tonks. Tonks, I-"
Tonks tried the door. It was locked. She rang the bell again. No answer. She started to panic. She had distinctly seen the lights on in the house. So why wasn't he answering the door. Perhaps she was just pushing down the thought that maybe he was avoiding her, but she closed her eyes and apparated with a crack to the inside of the flat.
With her wand out, she walked through the empty living room. "Remus?" she called out quietly. She turned her head as she heard a sound from the kitchen.
Entering the small room, she gasped as she saw Remus lying on the floor. She heard him utter a groan and she crouched down to make sure he was all right. There didn't seem to be any evidence of a struggle, yet there he was, lying on his kitchen floor, groaning from a head injury. Or was it a head injury? There was a faint smile gracing Remus's lips. Tonks stood up again, looking around. She spotted the empty daydream charm box on the counter. Tonks clamped her hands over her mouth.
She looked down as she heard Remus stir. It looked as though he was going to wake up soon. Tonks looked around frantically. This was going to be awkward enough for him when he woke up without her standing over him. Before he could fully awake, she panicked and ran back into the front room. She didn't really know what she was going to do once he walked back in there to find her sitting on his sofa. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she thought nervously, still clutching the empty box in her hand.
A/N: Thanks so much for the lovely reviews last time. They really brightened my day. Thanks for all sticking with it, even though I had that looooong pause. anyhoo, yeah. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Oh and the first part with Fred and George happened before Xmas, in case it was unclear. Thanks again!
