Seventeen

Nymphadora Tonks was bored. She was currently sitting in Gryffindor common room, quite alone. Remus had a class, Lily was "helping" James with his Charms essay somewhere upstairs and Sirius, well no one ever really knew what Sirius was up to. So here she sat on the couch that had been previously occupied by a couple of first years that had promptly cleared out as soon as she flopped down. Tonks sighed and glanced around the common room. Everyone there seemed to be very busy and by now Tonks was sure her attitude was repelling people left and right. She reached for the remote and turned on the large muggle TV they had in the common room. After a few minutes of flipping through channels Tonks came to the conclusion that nothing was on. She looked around at her surroundings once more and rested her eyes on the coffee table her feet were propped up on. Amidst the pieces of broken Wizard's Chess pieces and chocolate frog wrappers there were a couple of muggle magazines. She leaned forward and grabbed the top one, a colorful magazine called Seventeen. Well, it's better than nothing, Tonks thought to herself.

She flicked through the pages halfheartedly, not really reading any of the articles or taking in any of the pictures. She was just about to throw the magazine back on the table and start wandering around when something caught her eye. The words "Is it Love-or Just a Hot Crush?" stared back at her in red letters. Tonks was about to turn the page when something in her head stopped her. Is it really love? She was happy in her relationship with Remus, but was it love? All of Tonks' previous relationships had been nothing more than hand-holding on the playground, or a tiny kiss on the roof of a shed at a bonfire with muggle boys from back home before she was at Hogwarts. She had never been in a real relationship like what she had with Remus. So this poses a question…is it love? Or just a hot crush? Well it certainly was hot, Tonks thought to herself. But did that make it love? Her relationship with Remus was relatively new and they hadn't exactly gotten to those three little words yet. Tonks has thought about it, and she's pretty sure so has Remus. According to the quiz, if she answered yes to six or more questions, it was love. Kind of scary how something so big could be figured out by answering eight questions in a magazine. Now that Tonks had been thinking about this for the past few minutes, she found it hard to look away from the page. What the hell, why not?

I feel really good about myself when I'm around him.

Well that was a given. Tonks could almost forget about her imperfections when with Remus, and she had quite a few.

We could spend all night talking and never run out of stuff to say.

Another yes. Remus seemed like the quiet type in class and with friends, but boy, get him alone and he just goes on and on. In fact Tonks had lost many hours of sleep at night talking with Remus. And doing other things.

I want him to meet important people in my life, like my parents or grandparents.

Tonks and Remus had been talking about him staying with her over the summer and she's pretty sure her parents would love him. They love Sirius, so Remus would be adored. Her dad's parents were muggles, but they were very accepting of the whole magic thing. As for her mom's parents…well let's not go there.

He's like my best friend – only I like making out with him.

Well that one was easy.

I've seen him at his worst (like after he lost a big game), and I still think he's amazing.

Honestly? She should get bonus points for this one.

I'm totally comfortable around him, and I'm not afraid to say exactly what I think to him.

Please, Tonks was comfortable saying what she felt about McGonagall to her face. Well maybe not McGonagall, but you get the idea.

We've fought, but we worked it out and listened to each other.

A Tonks/Remus fight was not fun to watch, or listen to for that matter, but they did happen. A lot of yelling would be followed by some objects thrown, maybe even some curses fired. But then they would disappear for a while. Obviously they worked it out.

I'm okay making sacrifices for him, like giving up a date so he can study. He does that for me too.

Example A. Right now. Tonks was sitting here, wasting valuable Remus time while he was exercising that massive brain of his. But seriously, she did make a lot of sacrifices for him. Tonks can remember many nights when all of Gryffindor Tower was out at Hogsmead, or partying, but it was the night after the full moon and Remus really didn't feel like it. So Tonks would snag some food from the kitchens and cozy up on the couch with him. Another yes.

Tonks could feel herself getting nervous as she looked at the page and found that she had checked off all eight "yes" boxes. 100 percent. Tonks had started out the afternoon in a great relationship with a great guy. Now she was in love. Did this mean that she would be spending the greater part of her life with him? Should she be thinking about dresses, and rings, and invitations? Baby names? Tonks shook her head vigorously and took a deep breath. Relax! You're seventeen for Merlin's sake. Seventeen year olds don't think about weddings and babies, Tonks thought to herself as she threw the magazine back on the table. She barely heard the portrait hole open and nearly jumped out of her skin when someone came from behind her and kissed her neck.

"Jeeze, a little jumpy?" Remus said as he walked around the couch and sat down next to her.

Tonks tried to act casual as she got her breathing under control and smiled at him nervously. "No, I'm fine," she responded quickly. Too quickly.

Remus looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes. "You sure?" he asked. Tonks nodded vigorously. "Okay..." Remus said as he put his book and notes on top of the magazine that was causing her to feel this way. She stared at the books on top of the magazine for a few moments and felt herself calming down. Suddenly, everything seemed to be fine. Tonks furrowed her eyebrows together trying to work through her thoughts. She thought about everything the quiz said and suddenly wasn't so scared about spending a few more years with Remus. In fact, it felt right, very right. Maybe even perfect. Tonks turned to face Remus and slowly smiled at him and let out a little laugh. He looked at her, concerned.

"Seriously, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm good, really good," she said to him, smiling.

These magazines really should come with a warning.

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.

The article "Is it Love-Or Just a Hot Crush?" comes from the February 2008 issue of Seventeen magazine.