A/N: Takes place about a month after the events in "Not So Bad".

Hiding

Tonks adjusted her top as she followed Lily down the stairs from their dormitory and into the common room. They entered the large room and were warmly greeted by the rest of Gryffindor Tower, all of whom had gotten together for the traditional party following the first Quidditch match of the New Year. Tonks and Lily both were handed drinks and started talking with some of their friends about the game, which Gryffindor had won by a landslide.

Tonks was talking with some sixth years when Lily bent down and whispered in her ear, "Ugh, jerk alert," and nodded in the direction of the boy's dorm staircase.

Tonks looked in the direction of Lily's nod and quickly looked away when she saw who it was. Zach Proctor, resident creep, was coming down the stairs, alone. He entered the common room and scanned the crowd in a creepy, very Zach Proctor-ish way. It was common knowledge that Zach had a large crush on Tonks and was planning on asking her to the Grad Dance. The Grad Dance was held in spring each year in honor of the graduating seventh years, and was very similar to a muggle prom. Even though the dance was for the seventh years, fifth and sixth years could go if they wished. Now that Tonks was a fifth year, she was looking forward to the dance and Zach Proctor was not something she wanted in the picture.

Tonks was busy looking for someone, anyone, she could strike up an interesting conversation with to avoid Zach when a roar of applause erupted from the side of the room where the staircase to the boy's dorm was. James Potter, seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had just entered the common room. He was closely followed by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Tonks felt her stomach flop a little when she saw Remus. Now why couldn't a nice guy like him ask her to the Grad Dance? Why Zach Proctor?

"Look, it's the man of the hour!" and "Great game tonight, Potter!" could heard being said over the loud applause for the seeker. Tonks was standing next to Lily watching the scene and heard her mutter, "Oh please," under her breath. Tonks smiled a bit to herself. She thought that it was funny how James and Lily seemed to argue over everything and how obvious it was to everyone but them how much they liked each other. Tonks looked back at Remus was an amused look on her face. Ever since that night they talked at the Snow Ball, she was seeing him in a whole new light. Tonks didn't know what it was, but something about Remus Lupin was grabbing her attention.

A while later, the common room party was in full swing and Tonks found herself struggling to enjoy herself. It was difficult to have fun and keep out of the way of Zach Proctor at the same time. She had managed so far, but her tolerance for forced interest in the dullest conversations was slowly waning. She was pouring herself another drink and looked up and into the prying eyes of Zach Proctor standing across the room. She tried to look quickly down and suddenly be very interested in her red plastic cup, but it was no use. She saw him coming towards her out of the corner of her eye. Tonks quickly turned around and looked for someone to being another conversation with. The only person not talking to someone was Remus Lupin, who was staring intently at a newspaper clipping hanging on the bulletin board. Tonks took a deep breath and made her way over to where he was standing, desperately praying Zach wouldn't follow.

"What are you reading?" she asked Remus quickly, standing as close as she could to him without being intrusive.

He looked down at her and smiled, "Hey Tonks," he then looked back at the article. "Nothing great, just something about flobberworms being useful in potions."

"Really? Interesting…" Tonks said to him.



Remus raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "You think flobberworms are interesting?"

"Oh yeah, throw them in some potions and you've got a party!" she said enthusiastically. Remus looked like he was on the verge of laughter. He could obviously see through her sudden enthusiasm in flobberworms and their use in potions.

"Really Tonks, what did you come over here for?" Remus asked with a smirk on his face.

Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes in the direction of Zach, who was standing by the drink table watching Tonks and Remus talk. "Ohhh, gotcha," he said nodding at her. "So this all you need me for? Just so Zach won't come over here and be mildly inappropriate?" Remus said to her, smirking.

Tonks looked up at him, her eyes pleading and said, "Maybe…"

Remus laughed, "All right, just this one time. But from now on you're gonna have to fend for yourself," he said with fake seriousness.

Tonks let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Remus," she said gratefully to him. Out of her peripheral vision, Tonks saw Zach start to make his way over to where she and Remus were standing. She looked down at her shoes and whispered, "Shit, shit, oh shit, I need to hide, hide me…" as she squeezed her eyes shut. Tonks felt a warm hand gently cup her cheek and was about to seriously knee someone where the sun don't shine when she felt a pair of soft lips crash down on hers. Her entire body tensed and then relaxed when she realized she wasn't kissing Zach, but Remus. She felt herself melt into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck. Remus' hand was in her hair, holding her head against his lips, and after a moment Tonks slightly parted hers, inviting him in. A chill ran down Tonks' spine as Remus gently ran his tongue along her lower lip. The kiss was gentle at first, and then became more passionate, more possessive. After a few long seconds Tonks and Remus parted and Tonks rested her forehead against his, as they struggled to get their breathing under control. She could see Zach out of the corner of her eye standing in the middle of the room, his jaw to the floor. After a beat he slowly turned around and went to the other side of the common room. Tonks let out a breathy laugh and said, "What was that?" in a low voice as she smirked.

Remus took a couple breaths before answering her in a husky voice, "That was hiding."

Disclaimer

Anything that is recognizable from any of the Harry Potter books is property of J.K. Rowling and I make no profit from it.