'Cuz I love the way you say good morning and you take me the way I am...
Remus lupin shifted from his resting place, against the kitchen counter, and moved to the chair closest to the door, across from Sirius and continued sipping his coffee. Today Tonks was supposed to come over and they were supposed to help Sirius by going grocery shopping for him, something he obviously couldn't go for himself, seeing as he was on, what Sirius liked to call, house arrest. Remus was going to do it on his own, but Tonks had insisted they needed a women's touch, if not Remus would end up buying butterbeer and chips. He smiled, remembering that conversation. It ended with an arm wrestling match, between Tonks and Sirius. Tonks won.
Remus was still waiting for Tonks to tell him she didn't want to associate with a werewolf, but it had been three weeks since he had told her, and she was still...She was still Tonks around him. Sirius sat down with a bowl of Owl O's and added about a cup of sugar to them. Another reason Tonks insisted on going shopping with Remus.
Remus felt a hand go through his hair, "Mornin' Remus!" Tonks said and yawned. She grabbed the , box of cereal off the counter and grabbed a hand full, shoving it into her mouth, as she hopped up onto the counter. "Oh, so lady like, Tonks!" Sirius greeted her, rolling his eyes. She responded with something that sounded something like, "Mmphpup!" Remus chuckled and sipped his coffee again, he loved how alike the two cousins were. Tonks swallowed and stuck her tongue out at Sirius, "Good morning to you too. Jealous?" She joked with him. She opened the fridge and stuck her head in, "Do you have any apple juice?" Remus heard her call from her position in the fridge, "Well, we must fix that!" Tonks exclaimed, not waiting for him to answer her. Sirius looked at Remus and rolled his eyes, grinning.
"Ready to go?" Tonks asked, shoving another handful of cereal in her mouth, dropping a piece or two. She must be a morning person, Remus thought to himself. He was still tired and stiff from his last transformation, therefore he most definitely was not. He smiled at her, her excitement contagious, "We are just grocery shopping, Nymphadora." He chuckled. Tonks blushed and shrugged, her over sized t-shirt falling off her shoulder, slightly. She looked quite adorable today Remus decided.
She was wearing a pair of denim shorts, which reached about mid-thigh and showed off her long, trim legs; she was wearing her oversized tshirt that was a very pretty shade of green against her skin; and she had a pair of neon yellow converse, which perfectly mirrored her playful personality. Also, she had her infamous chin-length, bubblegum pink hair.
He got up, stretched and said, "I'm going to go change into some muggle-worthy clothes. I'll be right back." He placed his mug into the sink, "By the way, while we are gone you should probably water some of the plants that are growing in place of your dishes!" Remus joked, heading for the stairs to go the room sirius gave him upstairs. He heard Tonks give a tinkle of laughter. He opened the door to find kreature "dusting" his stuff, most likely stealing it. "Hey, kreature, I'm going to change, can I have a bit of privacy?. He asked politely. Kreature left, leaving a trail of insults in his wake. Remus rolled his eyes and smiled slightly, used to the elves bitter personality.
He opened his wardrobe, unsure of what muggles wore to go grocery shopping. Most of his muggle clothing consisted of suits. He cocked his head, and got an idea. He grabbed the white button up that went with one of the suits and a pair of jeans he was pretty sure Sirius got for him for Christmas two years ago, that he had never worn. He changed out of his robes and slipped the jeans on, which fit perfectly. He glanced down at his scar covered chest and stomach, glaring slightly. No women would ever like a scar ridden man, let alone an old werewolf covered in scars. Especially not a wonderful girl like Tonks. She's too smart for that... Remus thought, then sighed. He didn't want to think about her like that. They were just friends, he reminded himself.
He slipped his arms into the sleeves of his shirt and buttoned it up, most the way. Leaving the two top buttons undone, he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. He glanced into the mirror, happy that he looked presentable as a muggle. He ran his hands through his hair, which was mainly sandy brown, with just a few strands of grey. Grey. Because I'm old. He thought, frustrated that he couldn't be young and carefree, free to have feelings for HER.
Tonks drug him down the street to this tiny market store, he opened the door for her and heard the bell on it jingle. They both stepped in and he heard her sigh, the building was quite a bit cooler than it was outside, the summer sun had been getting to her. She smiled at him "follow me!" She said heading down an isle that was marked canned goods. "So, I was thinking we could grab some simple ingredients and then we could make and freeze some meals for Sirius. Do you think he would like that? I mean, if we got a cookbook and we all three pitched in, I'm sure we could make SOMETHING edible." She said, her eyes sparkling a blue-violet.
"I think that's a wonderful idea." Remus said, re-folding his sleeves up, they had slipped down a bit, but then scowled at the now vulnerable scars all over his forearm. "I think your scars are handsome." Tonks said, blushing, making an obvious attempt to keep her hair from morphing, as he saw the tips turn peach before fading into pink again. She obviously didnt want to scare the muggles. Remus gave her a oh, come on look. "Yeah, because we all know a scar covered, old, werewolf is just the sexiest thing ever!" He said sarcastically. "I'm not lying, I think you are very handsome... Oh, look! Wax beans!" She exclaimed, obviously trying to change the subject, as the peach tips returned.
Remus was seriously confused. She didnt sound like she had been lying, but he couldn't fathom Nymphadora Tonks finding an old, marred, wolf like himself attractive. "Remus, do you know how to bake a ham?" She asked, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the butchers window. He blushed the second her fingers intertwined with his own. He chuckled softly, gazing at her with wonder, "Yes, Nymphadora, I indeed do. Twenty minutes per pound. It's fairly simple, really." Remus explained to her. "Do you think Sirius would like that?" She asked, gazing through the window, at all of the freshly cut, raw meat. "Oh! And look! Some hamburger. Can you freeze hamburgers? Oh! A chicken! I know how to make a wonderfully simple soup!" Tonks was getting excited and Remus couldn't help laugh at her eagerness. She really was easily happy.
Tonks placed the meat order and the butcher told them it would be ready in twenty minutes, then he winked at her. She smiled and thanked him, oblivious to the flirting. Remus wasn't though, as they walked off he put his hand on the small of her back and turned to look at the young man, who took their order and glared. Tonks, oblivious, smiled up at him, his hand still resting on her back, he realized what he had just done. Had he really gotten jealous over some guy who was actually her age? She wasn't his... Unfortunately. He sighed and removed his hand, running it through his hair, a piece flopping right into his face., he didnt bother brushing it out of the way.
Tonks smiled and gave him a quick hug, surprising him, before skipping off to the dry goods isle. Remus followed, dumbfounded. How can she be so... Comfortable with me? IM dangerous...Remus thought to himself as she pulled all different kinds of noodles and rice off the shelf, filling his arms with said items. "Should I go get a basket?" He asked her, almost dropping a bag of rice, which he caught with his pinky. She giggled and pushed the piece of stray hair out if his face, then studied his face. He looked at her eyes, noticing how her pupils were surrounded by a light blue, then the rest of her irises were a violet with flecks of silver. They really were beautiful... Remus quickly looked away, realizing what he was doing, surroughly embarrassed.
Tonks sighed, looking a tad bit hurt, for reasons unknown to Remus. She obviously could tell he had feelings for her and it made her uncomfortable, he guessed. "No, I'll go get it." Tonks said walking off, leaving him in the isle, alone, as another piece of hair fell in his face.
The door jingled again as they left the store with their arms full of paper bags. The sun was just setting, a beautiful shade of orange taking over the sky, the temperature finally dropping a few degrees. "Thanks for helping me today, I don't think I would have picked out such good food without you." Remus said smiling down at her, she avoided his eye. He sighed. "Shall we head back to grimmauld place?" She asked him, quietly. He nodded and she grabbed his arm, appirating to the porch together. Remus shifted the bags around until he had a hand free and got the door for her. She muttered thanks and headed inside to the kitchen. She just missed tripping over the leg and let out a tiny cough-like laugh.
"Thanks again guys!" Sirius called after them as they both left grimmauld place with the promise of coming back to help cook his food next Saturday. They both informed him it was no problem and Remus shut the door behind them. Tonks surprised him by plopping down onto the old, cracking steps of grimmauld place, patting the spot next to her. Remus carefully sat down next to her and looked at her quizzically, "What's wrong?" He asked, noticing the look on her face.
Tonks sighed and looked at her feet, "Have I been bothering you?" She asked, strongly, looking him in the eyes suddenly. "What? You think you have been bothering me?" Remus asked, Incredulously. She couldn't possibly think something like that, could she? She nodded and looked back at her feet. Remus started laughing. Hard. She didnt hate him, she thought he hated her. He laughed even harder, both relieved and amazed. Tonks glared at him, "Well, you don't have to laugh!" She said sounding hurt. She stood up, brushing the dirt from the back of her pants and started walking off.
"Wait! Nymphadora! I wasn't laughing at you! I was laughing at the thought of you thinking I didn't want you around! I love your company!" Remus said walking after her. She stopped and turned on him, her hair turning peach. He grinned. "Really?" She asked, as if she didnt believe him. "Yes! Tonks, why wouldn't I?" He said gently, looking at his feet this time.
"Oh, no reason. Nevermind!" He could hear the smile in her voice and she walked up to him. He looked up just in enough time to feel her small arms go around his waist as she gave him a tight hug, which he returned, without thinking. Deep down he knew he shouldn't be doing this, but frankly, he didnt give a damn. He smiled, thinking about the gone with the wind reference. He hated that movie, though he could faintly remember Lily forcing all of the marauders into watching it one time. He smiled.
She let go after a minute and stepped back, smiling at him. "By the way, I know it's been bothering, so I figured I would say something about it. I don't give a crap that you are a werewolf. I like you how you are!" She said, hair peach again. He felt his mouth kind of open in shock, he wasn't used to people accepting him, let alone telling him they did. Remus just caught the happy twinkle in her eyes and she apparated away. He accepted it. He absolutely loved the way she said good morning and the way she accepted him as he was...