Of Wizards, Witches, and Their Valentines

Remus was nervous.

It was the thirteenth of February, and he was, as he had been on a few occasions before, nervous about the following day. Because today, for the first time in fourteen years, there was someone in his life who he wanted to be his Valentine.

Nymphadora Tonks was a wonder in herself. She was funny, bold, attractive, and enthusiastic. She was also clumsy, but Remus found that endearing. He didn't know how it was possible not to like her.

And, for the first time in his entire life, he thought the person who he liked just might like him back.

Sirius had told him to ask her out. Sirius had always had a way with women; he had realized that Remus had feelings for Tonks long before Remus himself had. But Remus simply hadn't been able to bring himself to ask her out.

And on this thirteenth of February, as Remus walked apprehensively down Diagon Alley, he was wishing that he had tried to find out what she was expecting from him. This craze of shopping for Valentine's Day was something he had never been engaged in before. He had no idea what Tonks would like, if she wanted anything at all, and he had no idea if his feelings were even requited. Sirius was adamant that she did, but Remus wasn't so sure.

Everywhere he looked, there were couples, frolicking about the street, laughing and shrieking and kissing. People who had already gotten together. Not people who were smitten by someone whom they weren't with. Oh, how he wished Sirius could have come with him for this. Sure, he could be a pain in the rear sometimes, but at least he knew more about girls than Remus did. Remus had almost been tempted to take notes when Sirius had explained everything to him back in Grimmauld; there was no way he was going to remember everything Sirius said.

He paced up and down the street as if it was the study back at Grimmauld. What to get her? She was everything. She was everything, and she deserved the world.

He didn't have enough money to buy her something expensive, so it had to be unique. There was no way he was getting her something cheap. She deserved better than that. She was priceless, and she deserved something as precious as she was.

Nothing fancy. Nothing extravagant. Nothing extremely stupid, either. Nothing that she would cast one glance at, thank him for, and then store at the bottom of her closet forever. Something that she could remember him for, something that she would treasure. A token of his love for her.

Remus decided to try first at Madam Malkin's. He gingerly walked into the store, looking around at the assorted clothing. Possibly dress robes? He decided to approach Madam Malkin on the subject.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lupin," Madam Malkin said politely, bustling towards him. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really," he admitted. "Er…"

"Shopping for your girlfriend?" she asked, neatening a stack of robes on a nearby shelf.

"Something like that. How did you…"

"It's the day before Valentine's Day, Mr. Lupin. I've had many before you flocking in here."

"Oh. Okay. I'm, er, kind of new to this whole shopping on Valentine's Day thing, do you know what kind of things women like?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "You've never done this before?"

Why was she rubbing it in? Hadn't he just told her he'd never done it before? "No."

She tutted. "Well, it depends on what kind of woman you're shopping for. What does she want?"

He sighed. If he had known what Tonks wanted, he would've already gotten something for her. Trying his hardest to be patient, he replied, "I don't really know. But she's very bright. Full of energy. Colorful. That kind of thing."

"I see," she contemplated. "Are you going for robes? Dress robes, maybe? Or would you want to get her other types of clothing?"

"I'm not sure," he replied truthfully. "What would be the most appealing?"

Madam Malkin transferred a few dress robes from the shelves to loose hangers. "It all depends on what she'd like, Mr. Lupin. You'd know the answer to that better than I would."

He bit back a retort. "I see."

"But you're welcome to browse through the shop," she offered, gesturing vaguely to the many robes that surrounded them. "Anything here is of highest quality. Any of it is guaranteed to be a nice gift for your girlfriend."

"I'll do that, thank you," Remus said politely. He offered her a smile and walked over to the back of the shop, looking carefully through the robes there. They weren't insanely expensive, but for some reason, he didn't feel like a set of robes would be the best gift for Tonks. He could do better. So after a few minutes of browsing through, so as not to make Madam Malkin feel bad, he turned back to her.

"Is there anything else you would suggest?" he asked.

"You can get general clothing at Twilfitt and Tatting's." There was no hiding the scorn in her voice as she said it. Twilfitt and Tatting's was the primary competition for Madam Malkin's. "If you're looking for dresses, accessories, things like that, though, try the shop across the street. They've only been here a few months, but I've heard they have good quality. And reasonable prices."

"I think I'll check it out," he said politely. "Thank you so much. Have a nice day."

"You too," she replied sweetly.

And Remus made his way to the small shop across the street. Upon entering, he saw that a large-bellied man was measuring a short, white dress at the front counter. Remus cleared his throat and approached him.

"Good afternoon, sir," he began tentatively. "I'm looking for a gift for my… er, one of my friends. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow, you see, and…"

"Ah, of course!" exclaimed the man genially. "Call me Derek. What can I get you?"

"I don't know what I want to get her," he admitted honestly. "I've never really done this before, do women generally like dresses?"

"If the high sales I've been getting in the past few days is any indication, then yes," chuckled Derek. "I bought something from here for my own wife only yesterday. You want a dress, you said?"

"Yes, let's try that," Remus said, frowning.

"Come with me!" Derek exclaimed, and he led Remus to a rack of dresses of various lengths, colors, and sizes. "Feel free to look through here, these are probably your best bet. Long, short, bright, dark, this has it all!"

The man seemed so genuinely excited that he had a customer that Remus had to smile. "Thank you. I'll look through here."

Derek beamed and shuffled off. Remus mused through the dresses. They were nice, and of good quality, but they seemed to lack the shine and zest that Tonks usually possessed.

But did he really want something eye-catching? Wouldn't it be more practical to have a dress that would offset her brightness? Maybe that was it. He was looking for something that was like her, but he should be looking for something that would just outline how beautiful she was. It was like the added salt in a dessert, bringing out the sweetness.

And then he saw it, folded in between two black cocktail dresses. It was a soft, rosy red dress, a skater dress with full sleeves. It was simple, yet elegant. It was something he knew she would like, something he would like. He could envision Tonks wearing it to Order meetings, or when she came over to Grimmauld to talk to him and Sirius, or wherever else she went. He could envision her, and her beautiful smile, her bewitching, charming, beautiful smile, which made him want to lose himself into her forever and ever.

It was perfect.

Tenderly, he picked it up and ran his hands through it gently, relishing at how soft it felt. A brief glance at the price tag told him it was something he could afford, even though he'd hardly think twice about spending as much was required for his Nymphadora.

"You like it?" asked Derek, who had snuck up behind him unnoticed. "Yes, this is a very pretty dress. What size do you want it?"

Because Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, Remus could have easily bought it at any size, since she could just morph to fit it. But he wanted her to be herself; he didn't want her to have to change to accommodate it. So he thought back to all of the times he had held her in his arms, inhaling her sweet scent, now trying to gauge her size.

"A size smaller, please," he requested Derek, who happily complied, magicking the dress so that it became one size smaller. "That's perfect. Thank you. I'll take this, then."

"Of course!" Derek said jovially.

Once Remus had paid the required amount at the front counter, Derek packaged the dress into a parcel, wrapped it with red-and-pink-heart-adorned wrapping paper, and handed it to Remus. "Here you are! Happy Valentine's Day!"

Remus smiled. "Thank you. You as well."

Though he was glad that he had managed to find something for her, a part of him was also anxious as to whether or not she would like it. Was it really the right gift for her?

He brushed these thoughts aside as he walked back down Diagon Alley. It would not do to think negatively. That would only make matters worse.

"I'm so sorry!"

He looked up at the woman he had just run into, and found that it was none other than Tonks.

She was wearing a bright pink blouse and jeans. Her hair was raspberry, just brushing her shoulders, and wavy. She looked beautiful.

Her eyes grew wide with surprise as she saw him. "Shoot. I'm s-sorry, Remus, I…"

"No worries," he replied kindly, quickly stowing the dress he had just bought away in his cloak so she wouldn't see it. "How are you?"

Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. "I'm fine," she said, smiling coyly. "Er, what are you doing here?"

"Shopping for Sirius," he invented quickly. "You know, he can't get out of the house, so I'm getting him stuff to keep him from getting bored."

"Oh. Sounds fun. I haven't seen you in a while. I wanted to stop by two nights ago, but Mad-Eye chose to schedule a stakeout that night, and naturally I couldn't."

"It's all right," he responded kindly. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," she repeated, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, er, I was buying a gift...for…", she looked around nervously, "...a friend of mine."

Remus felt that there was more to it than that, but he decided to let it go. "I see."

"You know, Valentine's Day shopping?" she offered, attempting a smile. "It's tomorrow, the fourteenth of February, so, you know, I thought I'd… go shopping."

"Ah," he said, with as much nonchalance as he could muster. His heart was now pounding rapidly inside his chest; who exactly was her Valentine? Who was the special someone she was shopping for on Valentine's Day?

"Yeah," she said, biting her lip.

A moment of silence passed.

"Well, I'll go, then," Tonks mumbled. "N-nice seeing you."

As she turned down the street and started walking, Remus called, "Wait."

She stopped, and he quickly caught up to where she was standing. "Er, what are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked, his heart racing.

"I have a conference in the afternoon, but other than that, I'm free. Why?"

"I was just wondering," he muttered.

Her face fell slightly. "Oh."

Remus desperately wished he had Sirius with him right now. Sirius had always been good at handling women, and he would've known exactly what to do in this situation.

"Wait," he repeated. "I was… I mean, do you… I…"

She tilted her head to the side, her face impassive. "Yes?"

He took a deep breath and tried again. "If you wanted to come over to Grimmauld tomorrow, I'd… like that."

He watched her closely, as her eyes never once left his. After what seemed like an eternity, she replied softly, "I'd love to. Do you want me to bring something for dinner?"

He tried in vain to repress the flutter of his heart, and the desires that were plaguing him. "That would be great," he managed.

She offered him another coy smile. "I'll see you at seven, then."

A sudden thought struck him. Could he be her Valentine? He felt he was melting at her smile, and suddenly wanted to do nothing but embrace her right there in the middle of Diagon Alley, regardless of whoever saw it.

"Bye, Remus," she whispered breathlessly, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek before turning down the lane.

As he watched her go, she suddenly turned around and faced him, a smile playing at her lips. "Oh, and Remus?"

His face still stung where her lips had touched him. "Yeah?" he managed.

"Are you really shopping for Sirius?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. "And it just happens to be the day before Valentine's Day that you do?"

"I may not have been entirely truthful about the recipient of my purchases," he responded, the corners of his mouth twitching. "But I was shopping for someone who means a lot to me."

"Ooh," she teased. "Remus likes someone."

He didn't know how to respond to her jest. Did she know she was his Valentine? Did she know the effect she had on him, the number of nights he had spent mooning over her, how he couldn't take his eyes off her during Order meetings, how badly he ached to feel her every moment?

"I do like someone," he responded finally. "I like someone more than they could imagine."

"Oh, well," she sighed, giving him a vivacious smile. "Looks like you're taken, then. I'd better go find a new Valentine."

Before he could process what Tonks had said, she had already spun around and headed down to the end of the street. Find a new Valentine… Did that mean what he thought it did?

Maybe Sirius was right, after all. Maybe she did reciprocate his feelings. Maybe it was possible for a werewolf to love, and more importantly, be loved.

And Remus felt a surge of happiness cascading through his bloodstream, powering his blood with a joy he had never thought possible.

Because he knew he was her Valentine.

A/N: I'd love to hear what you have to say! Please review! :)