Lady Tonks, Lord Potter

Meetings, meetings, meetings

The sun was just beginning to break through the clouds in the Scottish highlands, peeking through as if it was uncertain about whether or not it should actually shine. It was in that half-light of early morning, just before sunrise, that Nymphadora Tonks was walking through the back garden. As she walked she laughed to herself quietly; comparing the back garden at her parent's house to the massive, manicured garden behind the lodge was a study in contrasts. Her parents' garden, whilst maintained wonderfully, looked as if it could be contained by a tenth of the topiary and flowers behind the lodge. She walked aimlessly, noting certain plants and trees without much thought, as she had quite a bit on her mind. Not only was she getting married in less than a month, but there was the whole 'merging the magic of two noble houses' bit along with the wedding invitations that would go to every single magical citizen of Britain. Bad enough that she was going to have to stand up there in front of everyone and do a public wedding, but now every single person she'd ever known at school would be there to give her crap. Well, possibly every person. The security for the wedding would probably be immense, not to mention that there were quite a few witches and wizards that had left Britain when the Usurper had claimed the throne.

It was while ruminating on these things and more that she turned a corner in the garden, moving between the hedges, when she saw him sitting there and smoking a cigarette of all things. She shook her head slightly, laughing, as she remembered when he used to sneak those at school and wondered what would happen if his mum found out. She cleared her throat, so as not to scare him, and nodded to him as he noted her approach.

"Molly'd kill you if she knew you were smoking, Chuck."

Charlie Weasley, leaning forward from a little bench set inside one of the hedges and cupping a cigarette in his hand, smirked at her. "Molly'd kill me if she knew a quarter of what I've done since leaving the Burrow for Hogwarts." He scooted over on the bench and nodded towards the empty space.

"Thanks." Tonks sat down and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "And old 'Dromeda would lose her shit if she knew what I've done as well."

"True, true." Charlie took a drag off of his cigarette and exhaled away from Tonks. "You want one? Old times' sake?"

She thought about it for a moment but shook her head. "Nah. I'm meeting Mum and Dad later this morning and she'd know. Don't know when, exactly, but it wouldn't matter if I did a million mouth cleansing charms, took a shower and changed clothes, she'd know. I remember the last time she busted me for smoking, after we went to that Muggle concert..."

"She should just be glad we just smoked cigarettes after what that one bloke offered us."

"No kidding."

They sat there in silence for a bit until Charlie turned towards her. "So...how are you doing, Lady Black?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Tonks shook her head. "It's going to be a full on bullshit day full of that stuff." She paused for a moment. "On second thought, let me have one of those."

"Nope." Charlie shook his head. "Offer was good before I knew Andromeda and Ted were coming in. She knows I was the one who got you smoking these things again she'd have my hide. Here." He took a drag and blew the smoke in her face. "That's all you're getting."

"Fucker." She bumped his shoulder and both of them continued to stare off at the trees and other parts of the garden that spread out in front of them. After a while, though, she turned to him. "So, Hermione Granger, huh?"

"Yeah." Charlie sat back on the bench and exhaled. "Surprised the hell out of me."

"I bet. Not as much as your brother, though. So how's that feel, dating a girl whose mum is dating your older brother?"