Just The Way You Are: A Ronks Story

"Get me out!"

"Excuse me?" Sirius's voice was filled with anger. "How dare  you?" Mrs. Weasley had just dumped an armful of workout things on his bed, including weights and a jump rope. 

"You're fat." Mrs. Weasley stalked out of the room and went downstairs.

"It's not so bad." Tonks picked up the jump rope and started jumping. She accidentally knocked a cup full of pencils off Sirius's desk. One of them broke in half. "Oops. Sorry," she said sheepishly.  "I'll fix that."

"Don't bother. It makes more mess for Molly." Sirius lifted a twenty pound weight high above his head, arms shaking. The weight slipped from his grasp, and smashed onto his foot. "OW!"

"Sirius!" Tonks gasped. Sirius was curled up on the floor in pain. 

"Ow. Oh, that hurts."

"Remus!" yelled  Tonks.

Remus's head appeared in the doorway. "What happened?"

"The idiot dropped a weight on his foot." Tonks rolled her eyes. "He thought he was superman."

"Owww..." Sirius was clutching his foot, face screwed up. "I did NOT think I was superman!" Sirius glared at Tonks from the floor. "Nymphadora."

"Don't call me that!" Tonks pounced on her already wounded cousin. "Take. That. Back!"

Remus sighed, and gripped Tonks firmly under her arms, pulling her off of Sirius. 

"Lemme at him!" shrieked Tonks.

"Stop acting like a wild animal or I'll shut you in the closet," snarled Remus through gritted teeth.

"I don't want to be shut in the closet!"

"Exactly."

Sirius was still moaning on the floor. "Better get Molly," said Remus, starting down the stairs.

"No!" Sirius tried to push himself to his feet, but failed. "Don't you see?"

"No, I don't see." Remus backed up a few steps, but kept one hand on the stair banister. 

"I don't need that woman to help me! I'll be in her debt! Sirius waved his hands. "She's trying to get me to see how right she is!"

"About what?" Remus was pushing Tonks in an attempt to shove her into Sirius's closet. "Why *pant* won't *push* you *grunt* go in?" Tonks wasn't budging, and turned around to give Remus her angelic look. "No, I'm not falling for that 'angel stare' again." The werewolf took that opportunity to give Tonks a final push, and she slid into the closet. Remus quickly shut the door.

"Help!" Tonks's voice sounded scared and muffled.

"I didn't think you'd actually do that." Sirius had a kind of half-smile on his face. "But that was totally awesome!"

"Right about what?" Remus did feel a little guilty about shoving Tonks in the closet.

"Let me out!" there was a banging noise on the closet door. "This isn't nice!"

"No. You're in time-out." Remus pushed Sirius's desk chair in front of the door, and then sat in it, making sure that Tonks wasn't getting out any time soon.

"Everything!" Sirius quickly threw his hands in the air and then quickly returned them to cradling his hurt foot.

Remus sighed. "I'll see what I can do about it. But if it's too bad, we'll get Molly."

"Fine." Sirius took off his shoe and sock to let Remus see. Remus took one look and headed down the stairs. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"To get Molly."

"No, please! I can live like this!"

"Let me out!" Tonks sounded close to tears. "Please?"

Remus came back into the room, and fiddled with the lock to the closet. "All right, Sirius, but don't say I didn't warn you. Also, Tonks, I thought you wanted to get out."

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you lock the door from the inside?"

Inside the closet, Tonks's eyes widened in fear. "I- I didn't!"

"Uh oh..." Remus gave up pulling. "We might  have a small problem."

"I'm gonna die in heeeeeeeeeere!"

"Sirius, is there a key to the closet?" Remus's brow was furrowed in concern.

"No." Sirius shook his head.

"Hang on, Tonksie. We'll get you out."

"It's all your fault!" Tonks was now crying.

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"Nice to meet you, sorry. I'm hungry, and thirsty, and TRAPPED!" Tonks rattled the door angrily. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life in this. Stupid. CLOSET!" Tonks kicked the poor door, which was the only thing separating her from the rest of the world. The Auror sobbed unhappily.

"Shhh, don't cry," said Remus. "You'll be fine, and out before you know it."

Tonks sobbed louder. "I knew I should have bought life insurance... Who'll take care of Sneakers?"

"We will, stupid. Also, you're not gonna die." Sirius hobbled over to the closet and fell onto the desk chair that Remus had hauled over. Remus was rubbing his chin, and thinking how to explain to Ted that he'd gotten his daughter stuck in a closet. Also, he didn't want to lose his girlfriend.

Tonks hiccuped unhappily. "When will you get me out?"

"Before a week has passed," Remus reassured her.

"That's too long."

"Well, I don't know what the heck I'm doing, so cool it."

Tonks sighed, and sat down on a large metal box.  Something furry ran over her leg and she screamed.

"What?" asked Remus. "Are you okay?"

Tonks pulled her phone out of her pocket and shone its light around the dark closet. Spiders covered the far wall, away from the door. "Spiders!" she whimpered. "Help! Get me out NOW!"

"Hang on, hang on." Sirius had handed Remus a pencil to try to pick the lock. It didn't work.

"I'm gonna get eaten alive! I bet these are poisonous..." Tonks screamed as the hairy arachnids swarmed all over the wall and part of the ceiling. "They'll fall on me, and bite me! I hate you, Remus Lupin!" 

The words hurt Remus, but he knew that she was just angry. "If you hate me, then obviously you don't trust me to save you from those spiders."

"I love you!" cried Tonks.

Remus shook his head and attempted to use the fake key that Sirius kept on his desk. Sirius had pulled his rolling chair out of a corner and was using it as a wheelchair, and finding things that could possibly free Tonks.

"Oh-"

"Language, Tonks!" Remus was now ramming the door with a book, in a feeble attempt to knock it in.

Tonks screamed again, as she stood on top of the metal box to avoid spiders running across the floor. It was clear that she was a stranger in their habitat, and they were not going to accept her.

"She might just have to stay in there forever," muttered Sirius.