This is Jo's world, I just want to live in it.

Nymphadora Tonks was awake early, something she tried to avoid at all costs. It's not that she had gotten too little sleep, she had plenty of sleep last night, she had gone to bed early last night, she had nothing better to do with her Friday night than to fall asleep on her couch at 8:30 pm.

She groaned to herself and sat up. Her muscles ached from sleeping on the lumpy old couch. Tonks stretched her neck out as she shuffled to her kitchen. She looked in her cabinet, but there was no cereal, it would not have mattered as there was no milk in her fridge and Tonks couldn't stomach dry cereal. Tonks sighed and reached for the bread on the counter. Lifting up the loaf, she noticed that there were spots of light blue covering the bottom. Although the color was quite interesting (she changed her hair to match it) it meant that toast was out of the question also. She looked around the kitchen, not even a single piece of fruit was to be found. She sighed.

Suddenly, Tonks was grinning. She remembered the Molly Weasley had been to headquarters no less than three days ago and there was bound to be food there. Tonks had a suspicion that her cousin would not be the only person at Grimmauld today, and she found herself grinning wider. Shaking all thoughts of him out of her head, Tonks threw on her thick robes and some gloves and appeared outside of number 12 Grimmauld Place with a loud crack.

Tonks' grin vanished as soon as she looked around. She was completely surrounded by fluffy white pillows of snow. Tonks and snow did not mix well, her mind flashed to all the times the stuff had caused her to slip and fall throughout her life. Assuming that everyone else had her grace, Tonks thought it would be necessary to at least clear a path in the snow. She took out her wand, still eyeing the snow suspiciously, and whispered "scorgify".

As she spoke, a stream of sudsy water burst out of her wand. Almost instantly the water began to freeze. Now instead of there just being snow, Tonks had to worry about ice as well. Tonks was never very good with the householdy spells.

Tonks looked around to make sure no muggles were out and quickly summoned a shovel from a yard a few houses down. Cold and angry with herself, Tonks set to work.

A few hours later, Tonks was freezing and thoroughly convinced that ice was invented by Death Eaters. Tonks was vaguely aware that someone had just walked out the front door of number 12 Grimmauld Place, but she was too busy murmuring curses at the snow to look up at who it was. She did however look up when that person said the forbidden word, "Nymphadora."

She scowled at Remus Lupin, "I've told you a thousand times, don't call me that."

He looked startled, like he hadn't expected her to say anything. Of course she was going to say something; he had called her by her first name. He stumbled over the words as her asked her what she was doing. But it was obvious wasn't it? She was getting rid of the snow, trying at least.

Her concentration broke, however, when she really saw how flustered he looked. Tonks really hadn't meant to snap at him, but her patience was already worn thin by her failed cleaning spell. She tried explaining herself further, about the spell and the ice. Tonks stopped talking quickly, to prevent herself from rambling. She made to grab the shovel again, but her foot had been resting on a cleverly hidden patch of ice and the quick movement caused her to slip. Tonks, for what felt like the millionth time that morning, was flat on her back. She could take down whole gangs of convicts, but was defeated by a dusting of snow.

Remus had rushed to her side, increasing the embarrassment she already felt. Tonks could feel her hair blushing right along with her cheeks.

"Please come inside, you are making me very anxious." Remus said. Tonks fought hard to keep her facial expression still as a flock of butterflies wreaked havoc on her digestion system.

"But the… I should…"Tonks stuttered towards the snow, the last of her dignity leaving quickly. Remus promised that he would take care of it.

Tonks pursed her lips tightly in concentration; she refused to trip in front of Remus again. When they reached the front stoop Remus opened the door for her. Tonks didn't want to let his moment of chivalry go unrecognized, so she turned around to thank him. When she turned around her jaw dropped slightly. Remus became more of a knight-in-shining-armor as he easily cleared a large path through the snow before shutting the door.

"Wow, nice wand work," Tonks said, impressed.

"Ew, really? In public Moony? At least wait 'till you get her up to your room before you whip out your wand." Tonks broke eye-contact with Remus to dramatically roll her eyes over to glare at Sirius Black. She blinked slowly and found herself staring at Remus; He was frowning, disapprovingly, at his childhood friend. She watched him turn back to her and their eyes locked.

Tonks had been holding the desire to kiss Remus Lupin at bay from her thoughts for months. She hadn't even let idea cross her conscious mind; the possibility remained floating on the outskirts of her thoughts. She let her defenses down less than a second and now the impulse to kiss him wouldn't leave her alone. Tonks was overcome by the desire to grab his neck pull him into a passionate kiss. Tonks was suddenly putting her and Remus in the setting of all the cheesy Romance stories she had been reading lately. Her imagination was running so wild that she didn't realize what her right hand has doing until she felt her fingers brush his hair.

Oh well, Tonks sighed, can't stop now. She rolled slightly onto the balls of her feet, closing the millimeters between her lips and his. The warmth of the kiss expelled the numbness in her body that hours of cold had caused. Tonks was extremely grateful of this. She could now fully appreciate the texture of his hair as she wrapped her fingers in it. Now, if she could only get his mouth open…

Tonks hadn't inhaled in quite a while. She leaned back slightly to breathe in, but Remus mistook it for an indication that the kiss was ending and he pulled away. As much as she wanted to dive back into another kiss, she restrained herself. Tonks couldn't help but grin at the look on Remus' face.

"Thanks." She whispered to him before turning around towards the stairs. Tonks tried to do her best badass, sexy Auror walk. She hoped he noticed that she successfully maneuvered the troll-leg umbrella stand. She really just hoped Remus was watching her walk away.

About halfway to the second landing, Tonks' stomach growled. She remembered the reason she had come to Headquarters in the first place. Tonks scrunched up her face, not to morph, but deep in thought. If she went back downstairs she would look completely foolish, and there was no was she was going to make it past the umbrella stand unscathed twice in a row. On the other hand, Tonks thought as she trotted back downstairs, she was very hungry.