Strangeways, Here We Come

Practise…

She'd never been particularly good with words – that fact had never been clearer to her, as she paced the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, trying to figure out what to say. Eloquence was more his gift, which was one of the multitude of reasons why she liked him. Speaking of, that reminded her of why she was there in the first place, and she decided to finally just blurt it out.

"Look, here's the thing. I… I fancy you. Quite a lot, actually."

She watched as his eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he placed his mug down on the table. "Oh," was all he said, appearing rather startled.

"Oh?" she echoed back, a sinking feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach. She knew it, he didn't feel the same way…

"I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard," he began slowly, and she could see his forehead crinkle in that adorable way it tended to when he was contemplative (No, not adorable! She didn't want to be thinking like that if he was about to reject her, the prat!). He looked at her regretfully and quietly said, "I certainly wasn't expecting this… I can't possibly convey how sorry I am for giving you the wrong impression. Do I really need to explain why anything between us would be futile?"

Her jaw dropped, and indignation began to swell inside of her. "Why yes, I think you should!" He would have to come up with some damn good reasons!

"It's just that…" Here he broke off and sighed achingly, unable to meet her eyes. "I'm in love with Sirius."

She nearly choked. "Sirius!"

"What?"

"I can't believe you're teasing me like this!" Tonks shouted, striding forward and swatting the man on the back of his head.

"Oi, what was that for?" Sirius whined, rubbing the point of impact. "You asked me to play out the worst-case scenario, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it has to be realistic!" she pointed out, throwing herself into the seat opposite her infuriating cousin. "You and I both know he would never say that."

"No? I'll have you know I'm a perfectly appealing prospect!" the man told her haughtily, before dissolving into a grin. "Oh, just relax, Tonskie – I'm only having a spot of fun. Anyway, you really don't need to rehearse your little confession at all. Moony's been …well, mooning over you even more than you have over him!"

She rolled her eyes disbelievingly. "And just how do you know that?"

Sirius smirked shrewdly. "Who do you think's been playing the role of Nymphadora Tonks when Remus practises revealing his feelings?"

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Toodles,
- ish -