A Serious Issue

"Sod it all!" Tonks cried, throwing her arms - and, consequently, her tea - in the air. With a frustrated sigh, she plopped down in the nearest chair and crossed her arms with a scowl. "Just - bloody - wonderful," she muttered, teeth clenched.

Remus Lupin tried not to laugh as he cast a few simple charms to clean up her tea. He failed - and it earned him a very cold glare from Tonks. "What's the matter, Tonks? The woes of love getting you down?" That earned him a punch in the ribs.

"It isn't funny, Wolf-man," Tonks snapped. "I'm not that kind of girl - all bubbly and dim-witted over men. Why did my life choose now to take such a twisted dive away from intelligence?"

"To amuse us?" Another shot at the ribs. "You have to realize that you're blowing this out of proportion. You're allowed to feel this way about someone. And the fact that it hasn't happened until now only means that now is special." With a grin, he grabbed a biscuit and his tea and left her with her thoughts.

Well, all that Remus said may have been true, but it certainly didn't stop Tonks form sincerely abhorring how she was feeling. It was a serious threat to the control she was so attached to. Sure, she was a bit quirky, but she didn't get into the Order of the Phoenix by giggling over every gorgeous ex-Quidditch-player-gone-Auror who smiled charmingly at her.

Oh, but this is different, the insufferable prat formerly known as her logic argued.

And why is that, pray tell? the very stubborn part of her responded, sounding - in Tonk's point of view - frighteningly logical for once.

Because Viktor Krum is different, said illogic.

Well, then! snorted stubbornness with a huff, but having no further arguments, conceded its defeat. Tonks was thoroughly unimpressed.

She frowned. It was a serious issue, this thing with Viktor.

Few people in the Order were unsurprised when he arrived with Dumbledore one evening, their newest member. The reaction was mixed: from Moody and Snape's 'a Quidditch player?' to Hermione's welcoming smile (and Ron's apparently still-existent jealousy, despite his having 'won the girl' some time ago). And Tonks?

Well, she'd always enjoyed a good Quidditch match, but she was not the fanatic Ron was. So the name Viktor Krum did little more than ring a bell. But the man - well, he did more. That night, she'd studied him carefully throughout introductions. During that time, she noted that his expression remained the same - well-mannered, though a bit anxious - save for two occasions.

The first, his polite smile gave way - very briefly - to a slight frown as his gaze fell on Hermione.

The second, that same courteous smile was replaced by a charming, genuine grin and a burst of light in his eyes. As he was introduced to Tonks. Their gazes had locked as he repeated her name - "Nymphadora." (Only, 'Neem-vadora.') "Hello." Someone - perhaps sardonic Snape - had quickly set to inform Viktor how little she liked her first name, but it didn't appear that Viktor heard him.

Roughly a week had passed since that evening and, for so short a time, Tonks had grown to know and admire Viktor quite well. It - along with the feelings it evoked - was unnerving.

"Lost in your thoughts?" Viktor's voice shook her - blushing profusely - from her thoughts.

Recovering quickly, she offered a smile. "You could say that, yes."

"It is always nice to watch you when you are like that. You are at your loveliest."

Despite the voice in her head screaming "don't blush!" she did - and cursed herself every moment of it. "Thank you, Viktor."

"When I ask about you, Mister Snape says you drift off like that too often for an Auror. I disagree."

Fighting the urge to ask about his asking about her - and to Snape, of all people - she responded, with a smirk: "Straight to the negatives, that one."

Viktor laughed shortly, pulling up a chair next to her. "Nymphadora," he began and Tonks felt herself smile; it wasn't so bad when the said it. "There is something I want to ask of you."

There was something about his expression - the glint in his eyes, the faintest blush on his cheeks - that sent Tonk's heart racing and her mind into panic mode. With a start, she jumped from her chair and walked briskly to the sink to pour a glass of water - though it would have been all right by her if fire whiskey had come from the faucet instead. "Um, sure," she managed, "Go on." Hastily, she picked up a second glass. "Water?"

Viktor was not thus sidetracked.

He stood and closed the distance between them with just a few long, determined strides. He lifted his hands to trace her jaw line gently - she noticed they trembled slightly. "Nymphadora, there is something remarkable between us. You feel this, right?"

She nodded numbly and realized suddenly that her hands had come to rest on his. "Yes..." she whispered.

"Good. Then say that you will allow me to take you away from this place one evening. It is so very war-torn and we are so young; you deserve a reprieve from it on occasion. Please, let me take you to dinner."

Tonks discovered that she could not deny him - or herself - this now. "All right - dinner." With a shaky - yet mischievous - grin, she added, "For starters."

Viktor matched her grin - mischief and all - with one of his own. And when his brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss, she found herself rather pleased, for once, with her blushing cheeks and her fluttering heart. It wasn't so terribly, really.