Chapter Two

Reading Circle

It was the first meeting and there was quite an air of anticipation in the compact, cosy room. Remus had helped find the venue: a wizarding library which specialised in children's literature and needed more funds to keep going. Tonks had recruited by one advert in the university and also by word of mouth.

She looked around. There was Darla Norwick, who worked as a healer attending to students at the university. Darla was in her thirties, with a mane of thick black curly hair and large, sympathetic green eyes. Next to Darla was Roman Fortes, a distinguished man in his forties who lectured in Ancient Magic. Roman was flanked by twin sisters Lucette and Liliana Westerhouse. The twins had a musical double act. Tonks had gone to meet them after a performance, mentioned her reading circle in passing and both girls had been surprisingly enthusiastic about the idea. Elsa Greene from the coffee shop had also joined along with her art student boyfriend, Marley Hoopland.

Beside Marley, looking somewhat self conscious, was Florina Hoggs. Florina was a squib who had been employed as a cleaner by the letting agents for Tonks' flat. She was sixty five, a widow and completely self taught. Tonks and Florina had got on from the start and ,as the woman opened up about her life, Tonks had gained an insight into how poorly squibs had been treated in earlier years – Florina's family hadn't considered her worth educating and had married her off at the earliest opportunity. Fortunately, her squib husband had proved to be kind and decent: he'd encouraged and shared her love of learning. Their son, Daniel, turned out to possess magic and had gone to Hogwarts. Remus was seated next to Florina, chatting and putting her at her ease. He caught Tonks' eye and smiled warmly. Tonks grinned back. He knew she was a little nervous and was, subtly as usual, conveying that he had her back and everything would be alright. Of course, his smile had other effects too. Although they had met on several occasions since the coffee shop incident, Remus did not seem to have guessed the identity of the mystery woman who had described him as 'tremendously hot'. Tonks, with no natural gift for the subtle, had been talking about herself. His apparent obliviousness was becoming frustrating but she must concentrate on the matter in hand.

She continued her survey of the reading group. The librarian, Carvell Dockeridge, a wizard in his fifties and his intimidatingly bright assistant , Pandora Mulch, made up the penultimate pair. A young Ministry employee, Garson Butterfield, had cornered her the previous evening and pleaded with her to let him join. She'd seen him around before: a handsome featured and slightly conceited dandy from a renowned Wizarding clan, he was rumoured to be on the fast track to promotion to the highest office of Magical Regulation. Tonks intimated that he found her attractive but she was also concerned that he wanted to report back on the circle's activities. He had reassured her that he had recently developed a taste for muggle literature and saw nothing wrong at all with such a pursuit. He'd seemed genuine enough and his behaviour in person was less suave and arrogant than she expected. She'd admitted him to the reading club, hoping that she wouldn't have reason to regret it.

Garson was never short of female attention. She supposed part of her attraction for him was that she didn't fawn on him or, in fact, show any particular interest. He just wasn't her type. Normally Tonks liked rebellious, straight-talking, alternative wizards, preferably attached to a guitar and tattoos. That was before she had met a mild-mannered bookish gent with greying hair and a scarred, prematurely lined face. She had looked into gentle, acorn-coloured eyes and listened to a dry, ironic, melodious voice and found herself, after an hour in his company, a little, well, obsessed. She did not like this behaviour on her part. She had always despised women who hung around hoping to be noticed by the wizard of their dreams. Surely it was a waste of good living time. And now, here she was, desperately longing for the smallest attention from Remus Lupin. Thank Merlin he was worth it.

She looked at him as he talked to Florina. His kindness was never patronising: it came from a place of respect and understanding. It came from his own experience of struggle but he must always have had that empathetic nature. Not that it stopped him from indulging a sharp and wicked wit. Florina was laughing heartily at something he had said. Tonks envied her. She really needed to get a grip.

Tonks cleared her throat.

'Well this is everyone for tonight's meeting. First, I want to thank you all for joining. They may be others coming along next month – I'm getting quite a lot of interest from the university. My plan for this session is that we all nominate a book or books to read, explain our preferences and chose one for the next meeting. Hopefully we can get an interesting, varied list together. Any questions?'

Elsa raised her hand,

'What happens if someone chooses a book that I hate?'

Tonks laughed.

'Come along to the meeting and explain why you hate it – it will make for a lively discussion, won't it?'

Florina raised her hand, 'Will all the books be available from bookshops or libraries if it's muggle literature?'

Tonks nodded.

'There's a huge lending library of muggle literature in the Department of Muggle Studies at Hecanthus University in Bath. They've agreed to take orders. But Remus has been tracking down bookshops and second hand bookshops with large stocks of muggle literature so it shouldn't be a problem.'

Florina smiled in relief/ She didn't have a lot of money to spare on new books.

The others were looking at Tonks expectantly. Remus, a slight twinkle in his eye, raised his hand

'Miss Tonks, I took the liberty of preparing a nomination proforma – I have them in my satchel. Shall I hand them out now?'

He was so formal with her in public. There was a faint hint of teasing in the address that made her stomach flip. Of course, he had thought about the practicalities, damn him; he was so methodical and organised.

'Yes, MISTER Lupin, please do hand them round – that's an excellent idea.'

'Oh, call me Remus – I think we should all be on first name terms here.'

Garson observed the look Tonks gave the ageing werewolf and frowned.

'In that case it's Tonks, not Miss Tonks.'

Remus, half way around the circle with his handouts, paused and turned to face her,

'Tonks is not your first name, is it?'

'It is the only name I care to acknowledge…Remus.'

He grinned and completed the circle.

They picked up the pens and started writing. The list held a maximum of five.

'Shall we allow everyone fifteen minutes – is that long enough?' Remus asked smoothly, catching Tonks' eye. He had a way of winking without actually winking,

'What did we agree?…Tonks.'

'We agreed 10 to fifteen minutes would be good. Go with your instincts: don't over think it.'

They had not, in fact, discussed any timing. Tonks' impish grin told Remus that she counted it as a winning point that she had added an exhortation to impetuosity to his insistence on method.

Tonks looked down at her own list – he'd put down a numbered order of preference with a statement that if the choices were equal, this could be ignored. Her first three choices were easy but the last two caused some chewing of her pencil, to the extent that the rubber on the end whined at her querulously.

She checked her watch. The face in the middle stuck its tongue out at her. She restrained herself from reciprocating.

'Ok, book lovers. Time's up. Who wants to talk about their first choice?'

Elsa shrugged and waved her purple-nailed hand.

Tonks smiled. She got a lot of teasing from Elsa but she was a loyal friend.

'I narrowed it down. I've got The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald – it's beautiful and sad and a warning to poseurs like me.'

'You're not a poseur!' Marley protested.

Elsa winked at him. 'Yes I am. No- everyone should read Gatsby at least once – the best doomed love affair ever and the way he captures the excitement and the squalor of parties…'

'I think he may have gone to one or two,' Remus remarked blandly.

'You've come out of your shell, haven't you? I wonder who's responsible for that?' Elsa arched her brows at Tonks. Remus reddened faintly.

'What's yours, Remus?' Florina asked, noticing his embarrassment.

'My first choice is The Go-Between by L R Hartley. A young boy loses his innocence as a result of being exposed to a love triangle while staying at a friend's house. But it's about a lot of things – the British muggle class system, secrets, taboos, the gulf between children and adults. It's wonderfully written.'

Tonks was staring at him.

'That's fourth on my list.' She said softly.

Remus held her gaze, now oblivious to the curiosity this interchange was engendering among the others.

'There's a muggle saying, I believe: 'Great…'

'minds think alike.' Tonks finished.

'Go on Tonks, ' Elsa prompted. 'What's first on your list – maybe it will also be on someone else's?'

'Well I've got a modern novel actually. 'The House of Sleep' by Jonathan Coe. It's a drama-comedy set partly in a sleep clinic. Hard to describe: fantastic, sympathetic characters, brilliant use of flashbacks. It's atmospheric and poignant and absolutely hilarious.'

Elsa looked around. 'Anyone else got that one?'

Remus coughed.

'I read it last month. I did think about it for number five but it was just edged out. I agree with Tonks: it is, pardon the pun, quite magical.'

Now both Marley and Elsa were grinning in unison and Florina was smiling happily.

'Can I read mine out, please?' Florina asked.

Tonks nodded, She didn't trust herself to speak. She was imagining a book circle of two, Remus sandwiched with her on her cat-shredded velvet sofa, discussing his favourite character from the Coe novel.

'I've chosen Jane Eyre – not a very original choice for muggle literature. My husband always said that some things are celebrated for a reason. Charlotte Bronte has created one of the best female characters ever . It's a romance, a horror story, a story about bullying and hypocrisy and being true to yourself. I've read it so many times, I could recite some of it.'

Carvell raised his hand.

'It's first on my list too.'

'Well, fancy that - I didn't think wizards would like it as much as witches!' Florina was delighted.

'Remus' smile was wry.

'It's third on my list actually. But then I've never been a he-wizard.'

Elsa's green eyes scintillitated as she asked,

'Who else has Jane Eyre on their list?'

Tonks, somewhat flushed, said,

'It's my second choice.'

Both Westerhouse sisters raised their hands.

Tonks announced,

'Well, as it is such a popular book, we could start with that. Any objections?'

Garson raised his hand.

'I thought we were going to vote. My first choice is Jekyll and Hyde. A fine morality tale about a hypocritical, virtuous doctor who is deluded enough to think that he can hide his dark side and sins away under a cover of polite civilisation.'

He was eyeing Remus as he spoke. He continued,

'Considering there are still so many dark creatures among us, I think it would be a great choice for our second novel to read. What do you think, Remus: seems that you have a lot of influence here?'

Remus was sitting very still. He answered mildly.

'Yes we should take a vote once we have heard all the first choices'

'What did you choose, Pandora?' Tonks asked, turning away from Garson.

'Mine is another twentieth century novel, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It is one of the novels which invented the idea of looking inside a character's mind and telling the story from a subjective point of view.'

'Stream of consciousness,' Florina said, a little shy.

'Yes, ' Pandora said. 'It's very poetic and you become very involved with the characters.

Marley raised his hand

'Mine is 1984 by George Orwell, a classic psychological study of dictatorship. '

The normally easy going Marley glanced over at Garson and said, an edge to his voice;

'It describes how a government can become torturers and censor all kinds of thoughts and feelings.'

'I thought Orwell was a terrorist,' Garson commented.

Marley grimaced.

'You thought wrong. He was a man of peace.'

Darla raised her hand.

'My first choice is Crime and Punishment by Doestevsky. A gripping study of a young man descending into chaos as a result of poverty and family pressure. I really think that it is the most exciting novel ever written by a muggle and it has real depth of characterisation.'

Carvell nodded.

'That's second on my list.'

Remus smiled.

'It's on my list too.'

Roman raised his hand.

'My first choice is Hard Times by Dickens. But I do like the Brontes . Everything on my list is from the Victorian era'

'Ok. ' Tonks said, her voice hard, 'Let's have a vote. How many of us would be happy to start with Jane Eyre?'

Carvell, the Westerhouse sisters, Remus, Tonks, Marley, Roman and Florina raised their hands.

'It's settled then. The book for the next meeting is Jane Eyre. Owl me if you have any difficulty getting hold of a copy. Meanwhile let's talk about the rest of our choices. '

A discussion of Crime and Punishment ensued with some fierce debate on Raskolnikov – hero or villain or anti-hero? As the discussion was waning, Garson, who had been in a taciturn sulk, suddenly announced,

'Of course, Dostoevsky's morality was twisted: he was a werewolf, a dark creature.'

'Pardon me, ' Carvell said, his mouth a rictus of surprise.

'That,' Elsa said, 'is a right load of niffler bits. '

'He claimed he had epilepsy to cover for his transformations: I know the grandson of a wizard who knew old Fyodor. What a phony!'

Remus, a tad pale, but smiling, said 'I do believe you have been misled, Garson.'

Garson imitated Remus, 'I do believe you are a dark creature yourself and trying to evade the subject…'

The silence dropped like the lid of a stone sarcophagus.

Tonks stood up.

'Leave!'

Garson faced her,

'Why are you hanging around with him? Going for a cheap, quick arrest are you? Bit of a honey trap?'

'Get out before I make you - and you know very well I can, Garson, you've seen me in action. Go and don't come back!'

The young man got up, scratched at his shoulder and picked up his suitcase.

'You'll come to your senses. Unless you're a pervert. See you around…'

He sauntered to the door, and turned around.

'Shut up and go, you creep!' Tonks yelled. Her face was the colour of an aubergine and her hair had taken on lava hues of red, orange, and terracotta as it twined into wild spikes.

Elsa went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

'Calm down, Tonksie. We're well rid of that one.'

'What a rude young man,' Florina said.

Everyone studiously avoided looking at Remus, who was avoiding looking at Tonks.

'When's the next meet, Tonksie?' Elsa said, lifting her friend's chin.

'March 20th. Same venue. Please bring your copy of Jane Eyre.'

'We'll be here!'

'Looking forward to it!

'Thanks, Tonks, Remus – it was really great.'

They all filed out, uttering encouraging phrases. Florina paused to kiss both Remus and Tonks on the cheek.

Remus was following the others to the door but Elsa pushed him back.

'Don't you think you'd better stay and talk to her?'

He hesitated.

'You are her friend, aren't you?' she insisted.

He nodded.

Tonks was sitting hunched on her chair, snuffling suspiciously.

Remus went over to her and reached out a hand then replaced it in his pocket.

'Um..Tonks? Are you crying? He's not worth it: that sort of thing happens to me all the time. Please don't pay any attention to it.'

She turned her moist, still red face towards him. Her purple eyeshadow had smudged on her cheek and there were thick wedges of mascara around her eyes.

'But it was here – in our group. This lovely group wouldn't have happened without you. He had to come along and ruin everything!'

'He didn't ruin anything. They all had a good time. It was a blip.'

'I want to kill him. He thinks he can talk like that to you…he's not fit to shine your shoes…he's..'

'I'm used to that sort of..'

'You shouldn't be! It's wrong. It's disgusting. You're a kind, wonderful, intelligent. .civilised wizard and everyone should know it!'

Remus reached out and patted her shoulder.

'I'm ok, Tonks – really, It's very kind of you to defend me like that but you mustn't upset yourself. It was a bit much him accusing you of being a pervert because you are willing to befriend me. He does seem rather hot-headed.'

She looked up at him, her dark eyes livid with tears.

'You really just don't get it, do you?'

Remus made a moue.

'What don't I get?'

'I've tried so hard to tell you…to let you know.' Tonks wiped her face with her sleeve.

'Oh, Merlin's beard. Remus…he called me that because he knows I fancy you. All those things I said – tremendously hot…killer smile…that was me, Remus. I think those things. I can't bloody stop thinking them, if you want to know.'

Remus seemed frozen to the spot.

'Oh,' he said. 'I see.'

'So I'm not just 'willing to befriend you', Remus; I'm bloody well in love with you, you daft wolf!'

Remus bit his lip.

'Oh…ok. Um'

'Say something!'

'Well, unpleasant as Mr Butterfield is, he does have a point. Because most wizard s might see any relationship between us as perverse, I'm afraid.'

She stood up, grabbed Remus's hair and pulled him into a fervid and rather wet kiss. At first, he stood rather passive but soon he began to respond and things became rather heated. He pulled away first.

'Look, Tonks; I enjoy your company – you're bright, lovely, funny. I'm…enormously flattered. But you really should be with someone of your own age, someone who is …your equal.'

She saw the blushing, aroused Lupin about to dig his heels in and morphed her eyes to puppy dog format.

'You don't like me, then? '

'Of course I like you. I…am extremely fond of you. But I can't allow you to…

'Throw myself away on an old, unemployed werewolf?'

'Yes. Precisely.'

She ran her hands through his floppy fringe.

'You are a little on the tall side for me. I might strain my neck. But as for the rest, I don't give a niffler's bottom about any of it.'

'Niffler's bottoms fetch quite a price at wizarding auction's in the countryside, I'm told.'

He stroked her hair.

'is that a 'I'm happy so I'm making an arch , ironic joke to hide it,' Lupin joke?'

He sighed and smiled into her eyes.

'You're aren't going to give up, are you?'

Tonks reached in for another snog. Her hair was now a long silky mane of bright pink. Remus sighed into her mouth and wound a skein around his wrist.