Just The Way You Are: A Ronks Story

They're Here!

After taking his shower, Remus settled onto the couch to relax and read a book. Tonks, not having anything better to do, cuddled next to him.

"What are you reading?" Tonks peeked at a page.

"Moby Dick," said Remus, without looking up.

"Oh," said Tonks, who thought Moby Dick a rather boring book. "What's it about?"

"I've just begun," said Remus, turning the page. "I'm not sure."

Tonks, accepting that she was not going to get any attention from Remus any time soon, slid off of the couch and set off in search of Sirius. 

Remus blissfully read through ten chapters straight before Mrs. Weasley let out a shriek of, "Arthur's nearly here with the children!"

Remus sighed, slamming his book shut, resolving to read more at the first chance he got. Tonks appeared at his side. Compared to him, she was so small that he nearly elbowed her before he noticed her.

"Sheesh, can't you grow a bit more?" asked Remus, tousling Tonks's hair affectionately. She barely went up to his shoulder.

"It's not my fault," said Tonks. "I was born this way."

"If you were born that tall then there's something wrong with you," said Sirius, who had a devilish smirk on his face.

"Oh shut up," said Tonks cheerfully. "Of course I wasn't born this tall!"

"You just said you were born that way," said Sirius innocently.

"Well, not exactly." Tonks flipped her hair and flounced off, probably to see if she could get anything to eat from Mrs. Weasley.

Remus shook his head, and quickly swept some more dirt off of the coffee table, and straightened everything else up as best as he could. "How does your house get so dirty this fast?" asked Remus.

"It is a gift," said Sirius. "My house is a gem. A diamond in the rough! It's got raw talent! It's so dirty that it could probably break a world record!" Sirius climbed on top of the table. 

"I just brushed the muck off of that!" Remus folded his arms. "And what talent are you talking about?"

"My house's ability to get dirty," said Sirius proudly.

Mrs. Weasley called for help with the spaghetti from the kitchen.

"Hey Molly, language," said Remus, jumping off of the back of the couch from where he had been trying to squish a spider. He swore it laughed at him before disappearing through a crack in the ceiling. "Sirius, you might want to hire an exterminator!"

"I'm a wanted man," said Sirius. "Who's gonna take care of all these insects without calling the police first?"

"I mean your cousin Andromeda!" Remus opened the door leading to the basement kitchen. "She's pretty fierce when it comes to bugs!" Remus ran lightly down the steps, and came face to face with an awestruck Tonks. "What?"

"How do you even do that?" Tonks threw her hands up into the air. 

"Uh, do what?"

"Go down the stairs without falling, you idiot!" Tonks looked at Remus like he had two heads and one of them was on fire.

"Oh... I'll show you some other time," said Remus, pushing past Tonks. "You needed help, Molly?"

"Yes, dear, why thank you." Mrs. Weasley looked flustered. "I don't have my reading glasses with me. Can you read the ingredients for me?"

"Sure," said Remus. "First, boil some water..." While Remus instructed Mrs. Weasley, Tonks poked around the cabinets and rummaged through random boxes and jars. Shortly after opening a box, she started sneezing like crazy.

"Tonks, are you alright over there?" Remus looked up from the spaghetti instructions.

"Yeah," said Tonks sheepishly. "I forgot *achoo!* that I'm *achoo!* allergic to pepper."

"Well that's a new allergy," said Remus looking slightly amused. "I thought pepper made everyone sneeze."

"It does, but apparently it's possible to be allergic to pepper." Tonks slammed the cabinet door shut, and opened another. "I can't seem to find the garlic." She moved a couple of cans aside. "Do yo- AHHHH!" Tonks jumped away from the cabinet like her feet were on fire.

"What?" asked Remus, wondering how much trouble Tonks could get into with the cabinets. 

A huge cockroach scuttled out of the cabinet, making an odd grinding noise. Remus raised his foot, and smashed it with the heel of his shoe.

"Yuck," said Tonks. "Now there's half of a squished cockroach on the floor, and another half on your shoe."

Remus shrugged. "Bugs don't bother me. I'll just clean it later."

Tonks shuddered. "I'm not going back in there. I'll look in the other cabinets, but never again in that one."

"Never? Okay, now for the sauce: Pour it into a large bowl, and add the meat to make meat sauce. Add a dash of pepper, we won't add that, because I don't want to be responsible for Tonks's dead body, and crush garlic."

"Which I still can't find!" wailed Tonks.

"That's okay, we'll skip that part. And what if we clean all the cockroaches out of the cabinet? Then will you look through it?" Remus asked.

"No," said Tonks, who was not that easily swayed.

"Oh well. It was worth a try." Remus turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "And what are we having anyway, the soup or spaghetti?"

"The soup is for tonight and the next few days, and the spaghetti goes in the fridge for later."

Mrs. Weasley hurriedly stirred the sauce, continuously glancing at the clock. "I need to change and fix my hair before the children get here." She poured the sauce into a container and drained the pasta.

"When are they getting here?" asked Tonks.

"At six o' clock, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "And next week, you, Remus, and the rest of the Order are going to fetch Harry from his aunt's and uncle's house. Poor boy, all cooped up with his cousin. I imagine that they are quite like Tonks and Sirius, except a bit worse."

Tonks grinned, as she thought of her earlier fight with her cousin. "Harry must be good at wrestling," she commented.

"What do you mean, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Well don't they get into a lot of fights?"

"Uh, she doesn't mean physical fights," explained Remus.

"Oh," said Tonks, skipping off to whatever castle, cloud, or secret garden that she was headed to.

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Mrs. Weasley, who had run off to change and fix her hair, barreled to the door like a football player, nearly flattening Tonks in the process.

Remus came flying up the stairs, and peeked into the hall.

Tonks got off of the floor.

The door opened and...