Spectacle

Note: A Christmas ficlet 2006 for the lovely Lazy_neutrino.

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"Well," said Tonks, her laughter muffled by the scarlet folds of the Auror robes she was in the process of pulling over her head, "I like it."

Remus had to admit that he liked the sight of her black, no-frills knickers and brassiere quite a bit as well, thank you very much.

Tonks tossed the uniform onto a chair and reached for the house-robe hanging on a peg on the wall. The round metal peg bared a row of minuscule teeth, and Tonks glared at it warningly. It sniffed in outrage, and spat the robe into her hand.

Apart from the glaringly obvious, Remus mused while crossing his arms behind his head in his wingback chair, Tonks' presence at Number 12 Grimmauld Place did have further advantages. Despite being a Black only by blood, not by name, she managed to intimidate most of the recalcitrant household furniture into compliance.

He watched her vanish under soft cloth until her head reappeared out of the collar of the robe, lurid pink hair clashing horribly with the bright turquoise fabric. She wriggled her hips to assist the fall of the folds, and Remus felt a sudden warmth in his groin. Pulling off her Auror-issue boots in favour of her fuzzy Niffler slippers took only a moment and slight wobble. Remus had long since realised that Tonks' clumsiness showed itself most strongly when there were a lot of people present. She wasn't nervous when she was alone with him.

She stretched, a luxurious arc of the neck, and another blissful wriggle of her toes sent the silly Niffler ears flopping on the slippers. At last, she perched down on Remus' thighs, pecking him on the nose, then settling in for a more serious kiss.

"Missed you," she sighed, then drew back to study his face intently.

"Yes, very nice." With one crooked finger, she lifted up his chin for a better view. "They make you look... all academic. Sophisticated. Much better than the winged ones this morning."

Remus' mouth twitched. "Of course I don't need them," he pointed out mildly. "They just make the very small print in the very old tomes more comfortable to read."

"Of course!" Tonks nodded earnestly, although her lip was quirking too. She cupped his cheek with her palm. "You really aren't upset?"

Remus had asked himself the same thing ever since the small chest had been delivered by Tandem Owl Express two days ago. Now, he shook his head and took her hand in his.

"I thought I might be, but no - I'm not. He never... took death very seriously." It still tugged at something deep inside him to think 'like Sirius'. Those who held the Old Enemy in disregard seemed to be destined to meet Him sooner than others; and yet it was the very quality that made them great. Keeping his voice light, he said, "He always called it 'the next greatest adventure'."

Tonks' fingers interlaced with his, and her expression told him that his light-hearted tone hadn't managed to fool her. "I hope he's right."

A true smile finally made its way onto Remus' face, and he turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand, an Auror's callused pads rough under his lips. It wasn't hard to imagine Albus Dumbledore twinkling down at them from whatever state of being he'd entered after his fall from the tower.

"There is something appropriate about him willing his collection of half-moon spectacles to a werewolf."

Tonks snuggled more comfortably into his hip. "That, and I'm sure he's noticed you squinting over all those parchments at Order meetings."

Remus frowned. "I didn't realise it was so obvious."

She peered up at him from below the thin gold-rimmed spectacles he'd finally settled on after a morning's experimentation - the least eccentric of Albus' extensive collection - and kissed him gently.

"It isn't, really. Only to those who love you."

~ finis ~