December 1995

Nymphadora Tonks possessed the mannerism of falling ill around the end of the year, usually sometime between Christmas and New Year's Eve. But this year she had been determined not to. And she had tried so very hard: she'd worn gloves and a proper cloak to her mission, she'd had several mugs of hot chocolate a day, she'd even worn her old Hufflepuff scarf when it snowed heavily. All of her attempts not to fall ill at this year's time had been caused by Sirius's and Remus's invitation to spend New Year's Eve with all the other members of the Order at Number 12, Grimmauldplace.

However, Tonks had went to bed yesterday evening with a horrible headache, her nose puffy and her eyes glassy. When she woke up today she already knew what the matter was: Tonks was ill again.

Her headache was worse and she felt somewhat snuffy and drowsy. One glance in the mirror and Tonks went back to bed instantly - her eyes were puffy, nose reddish, hair mousy brown. So this would be another oh so happy new year spent in bed being ill.

Tonks grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled a note onto it:

Dear Molly... or Remus... or Sirius,I can't come to your New Year's party tonight. Haven't been feeling up to the mark yesterday and today's worse. Flu or something. I'm really sorry, have a great evening still!- Tonks x

Boredly, Tonks watched her owl carry the letter away into the cloudy sky. This would be a rather boring day.

And so it was. Tonks spent her day either with taking naps, trying and failing to read a book, unsuccessfully trying to change her hair back to pink, taking some more naps, and having an unhealthy amount of chocolate - which didn't taste half as good with Remus not being around. As Tonks lay on her bed and stared at her flat's ceiling, she came to realize that she missed Remus.

But she couldn't just conjure him here or anything so she took another nap. When she woke up half an hour later she felt worse again. Her headache just didn't seem to leave, she had a runny nose and couldn't stop coughing or sneezing. Nor could she stop wishing Remus was there to keep her company.

What Tonks couldn't know was that the man she craved to be near her had just read her letter (Molly had handed it to him). He knew how much Tonks had been looking forward to their party so he decided she shouldn't have to spend New Year's Eve all on her own.

It was around 11pm when Tonks was woken by a hissing noise. She snapped her eyes open and got to her feet, scuffing into the living room awkwardly, with a blanket wrapped around her body. The flames of her fireplace had turned green and -

"Hello, Nymphadora," a familiar husky voice said.

- Remus stepped out of the fireplace, casually brushing dust off his robes. He was wearing a comfy looking brown sweater today.

"Wha- why are you here?"

"Because no one should be on his or her own on New Year's Eve, most of all, a Nymphadora Tonks should not."

Tonks's smile broke into a grin for a second and she sneezed. "You sh-shouldn-n achooo waste your precious time here!"

"Bless you," Remus chuckled, "Well, being with you hardly is a waste of time, is it?"

The young with felt herself blush. "You're lovely, Remus, you know that."

"Oh, I can be even lovelier, look..." Remus got on his knees and extended a hand in Tonks's direction. "Will you spend New Year's Eve with me?"

"Yes!" Tonks laughed. Her happy noises were interrupted by a loud cough.

"Oh dear, you'd better be off to bed while I make you some tea," Remus said. As Tonks nodded, he placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her over to the bed. Then, he put on Tonks's kettle and she watched him make tea. She loved doing this since it all looked so easy and simple for him. Tonks always manged to mess up something in the kitchen, she wondered why she still had one at all.

"Here you go... careful, it's a little hot," Remus said gently, handing her a cup of tea.

"Thanks." Tonks held the steaming cup in her hands, savouring the warm steam blowing into her face. The liquid smelled and tasted delicious. Remus made the best tea she knew and that had to say something since Tonks was actually a sucker for hot chocolate.

"Chocolate?" Remus offered.

"Can you read minds?"

Remus grinned shyly. "Who knows... here, eat. You'll feel better."

Tonks really did this time. Her head wasn't hurting anymore, but her nose still was runny and her sniffling and sneezing and coughing didn't seem to ease. But Remus was at her side, sitting on the edge of her bed with a box of tissues and comforting words. Remus really was a gentleman over and over. Tonks loved the way he seemed to care about her. He even took her temperature twice, made her new tea when her cup was empty, fetched another chocolate frog and even read to her. Tonks had never been the type to sit down for a solid hour and just read. But Remus's voice made her listen.

They'd been so caught up in their reading when Big Ben suddenly struck midnight. Remus put the book aside. "Happy new year to you, Tonks," he said happily.

"Happy new year to you too, Remus," she replied, "tho this isn't really how I've imagined New Year's Eve to be like..."

"Really? Well, I did, to be honest."

Tonks gave a hoarse laugh, suppressing a cough. "Like what? Spending your evening with away from Molly's glorious feast, trapped in a tiny flat with a sick person?"

Remus's facial expression was thoughtful, he took his time to answer. When he did, he smiled at her and shifted a great deal closer. "No... More like spending it with you," he said softly and kissed her nose.