BANG! CRASH! THUD!
"Merlin!"
Remus swore as he awoke and nearly jumped out of bed in the darkness of the room in fright. One scarred hand quickly gripped the head board with white knuckles to steady himself while his other reached out frantically in front of him. His lips whispered, "Accio," and within seconds his wand came whizzing into his grasp with a tthh-whack.
"Lumos."
He crept carefully forward with the soft light of his wand tip guiding him towards the bedroom doorway. The loud sounds at Grimmald Place were far too early in the morning for it to be anything good. Remus wondered for a moment if Kreacher had simply knocked something over but his instincts told him otherwise.
Remus approached the doorway and paused before he touched the door. His leg began to suddenly cramp and he paused for a moment to breathe through the muscle pain. He rubbed the area lightly while he kept his ear poised to hear any further unfamiliar sounds outside the room.
His leg continued to spasm and he frowned in disgust at it. He didn't want to think about it too much but in the latter years of his lycanthropy his transformations had developed some lingering muscle cramps that seemed to want to curl his legs inward in a canine manner. His leg twisted unnaturally inwards during the muscle spasm. It felt as if motor and muscle memory were fighting against his humanity. Some days in order to walk he had to use a wretched cane. God, he hated that thing slowing him down and making him look like a pathetic cripple. But it was necessary in order to allow him to have proper mobility as it would be even more pathetic to be repeatedly falling down.
Remus wondered if the loud sounds had awoken Sirius. No. Surely not. He had drunk at least an entire bottle of wine last night and was probably still passed out in bed. He had more chance of seeing the giant squid in the lake at Hogwarts ice skating than seeing Sirius up at this early hour. Sirius had never been one to get up easily in the morning as he thought back to the days of sharing the room together in the Boys Gryffindor dormitory; much less intoxicated.
He crept silently out of his room and soundlessly down the steps. He heard footsteps down the hall and then felt goosebumps shiver across his arms. He saw a dark figure in the shadows and swiftly held up his wand towards it. He cast the Incarcerous spell and thick ropes shot out of the end of his wand.
The figure was instantly bound from head to toe with the thick ropes and fell to the floor.
"Mmmmmff!"
Remus ran to the person and wondered if it was a wizard working for Voldemort. How had they discovered number twelve Grimmald Place? The person struggled against their bonds and made angry muffled sounds from the tight gag of the ropes.
He bent down, gently tapped the mystery person's head with his wand and the ropes around their head fell away. The person had a black hood and long shinny black hair. They spit angrily at the ropes falling out of their mouth. Remus slowly pushed the hair out of their face. He instantly recognized the face looking back at him with a scowl.
"Tonks!" he said with a gasp.
"Let me out of this you moron!"
"Oh dear. I'm sorry I didn't know it was you-"
"Let me OUT!"
Remus quickly pointed his wand at the rest of the ropes binding the rest of her body and they fell away. He reached out and helped pull them away from her.
"I thought we had been discovered by Voldemort and you were a dark wizard creeping around."
"No. It's just me. Blech!" she said while picking rope fibers off the surface of her tongue.
"Whatever was that loud crash from earlier?"
"Oh. That. It was that damn umbrella stand, I tripped again when I came in."
A wide grin spread across Remus' face.
"Damn umbrella stand, indeed. I should have known."
Tonks angry scowl disappeared and she smiled. She gave him a playful shove on his shoulder.
"Yes, you should have!"
Remus chuckled and then asked her curiously, "Why are you here?"
Tonk gave a big sigh. Then she answered, "I'm on my way to the ministry for work but I left extra early because I wanted to leave you a surprise chocolate cake in the kitchen. Happy birthday, Remus."
Remus had completely forgotten it was his birthday. He never really celebrated them as he had gotten older and his friends had been snuffed out. It just became another ordinary day as any other to him.
"Oh. Yes. I didn't even remember. How very kind of you, Tonks. Thank you."
"Well, I'm not much of a baker. The cake turned out a bit wonky and it nearly fell to pieces when I fell but frosting helped. What's that Muggle saying, frosting covers a multitude of...?"
"Yes. Frosting covers a multitude of sins, I think. Here, let me help you up," Remus corrected her and then offered him arm to assist her up from the floor.
"Do you have time for a cuppa? It's the least I can do. I can easily put a brew on and we can enjoy slices of the wonky cake together."
Tonks giggled and gave his arm a squeeze as he helped her up. Her stomach growled.
"Yes, wonky chocolate cake and tea sounds delicious actually. I haven't eaten anything today now that I think about it. They won't mind at the ministry if I'm a bit late."
"Oh good," Remus replied with a little too much excitement than he intended.
When Tonks was fully on her two feet again she threw her arms around his waist in a big hug.
"Happy birthday, you old man!"
Remus felt a warm sensation splash across his chest. His heart began to beat rapidly. He gently wrapped his arms around her in return. It always amazed him at how freely she hugged him. He whispered, "Thank you."
Tonks told him in a heartfelt tone, "You've been the best partner ever!"
Remus gave a little laugh and asked in an apologetic tone, "Other than the ropes today?"
She looked up at him with a sparkling grin, winked and added, "Ya, other than that!"