Fic: Can't I Like Girls Too?

[snorkackcatcher]

Well, this little story is a first for me in several ways ... a bit daft, maybe, but I'd appreciate critical comments! It was another one inspired by fandom theories -- this time the Can't Remus Be Bi? thread at FictionAlley Park.

Summary: Tonks decides to try an experiment while talking to Remus in the kitchen at 12GP. Features various members of the Order past and present, offstage and on. [Warnings: Contains references to slash, which may offend some people. Contains references to het, which may offend some other people.]



Can't I Like Girls Too?

"Do you miss him, Remus?" asked Tonks one day, completely out of the blue, as they sat drinking coffee in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, chatting idly about members of the Order.

Remus started, and his face took on a guarded look. "What do you mean?" he asked, his manner defensive.

She tilted her head to one side to give him careful consideration. "I didn't know whether it would be tactful to bring it up, but since you just mentioned him ... well, from what I heard ... weren't you two at one time ... you know ..."

Remus interrupted her before she could go into detail. He had absolutely no idea what she might choose to say, but it seemed like a pretty good bet that it would be something that would embarrass him. "Together? In love? Or did you just mean shagging?" He rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, and yes, if you really want to know, Nymphadora. We were all of those things, once."

She winced; if he was calling her by her first name, she had to have touched a nerve. But she decided to press on regardless. After all, it wasn't as if she managed to get him talking about personal matters every day.

"Once? A long time ago, you mean? But ..."

He sighed. "And again more recently, yes. But ... it wasn't as serious as you seem to think, though."

"No?" she said pointedly, watching his face.

He gazed at her in exasperation. Everyone and their Crup seemed to be asking him those same bloody questions. He hesitated; Tonks could be annoyingly inquisitive, but she was undoubtedly easy to talk to and be with. And rather easy on the eye, too, he thought, although unfortunately that wasn't really relevant. Especially as she was Sirius' little cousin ... "No. Look ... I'll admit it was a very intense -- and yes, very physical -- relationship at one time, when we were both still young men at Hogwarts, and even immediately afterwards when we were both in the Order together. But we were sort of drifting apart anyway, and then ... well, it's hard to trust a werewolf when most of them are on Voldemort's side, isn't it?" There was a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"Not necessarily, if you get to know him," she said gently, looking him right in the eyes. He flushed slightly and looked away. She suppressed a smile; it was always so delightfully easy to get a reaction from him when she did that. She realised, with definite interest, that she'd been wondering if there might be anything more to it. She remembered Sirius saying, jokingly, that he always suspected Remus of being a werewolf who could wag his tail both ways ... "But you drifted back together again, didn't you?" she probed.

Remus found himself unable to meet her eye, which annoyed him no end. "Yes ... when it all started up again, all the old crowd back together. I suppose it felt like old times for a little while. I'm sure he wanted to make it up to me for being suspicious. But it ... well, it just wasn't the same, to be honest. Too much time had gone past. Too much past, even if we did still fancy each other."

"Well, I can't blame anyone for fancying a good looking bloke," observed Tonks in a judicious manner. "I fancied him myself." Remus actually gaped at her.

"You fancied him? But you couldn't have done, you're ..."

"Hey, why not?" she said defensively, heading him off before he could make the obvious -- and annoying -- remark that she was sure had sprung to his lips. Which was indeed a thought in itself. She grinned at him mischievously. "I reckon it was the long thick hair that did it for me. I'm a bit of a hair person, you know."

Remus found himself grinning back, against his better judgement. "I've noticed. But even so ..."

"Look, does it matter now?" She shook herself. "How do you think Azkaban affected him?" she added in a quiet voice. "I only ever saw him a few times before they locked him up, but the man I saw afterwards always seemed -- haunted is the best way I can describe it. Most of the people we see who come out of there are. I found it hard to take, and I wasn't even the one it was affecting."

Remus scowled. "Let's face it, Dementors sucking at your thoughts all day every day would be enough to drive anyone out of their mind, even someone who was fully in control of it before they went in. And yes, he eventually found ways to handle it, and yes it could have been worse, but when he got out ... well, it was like something important had left him. I'm not sure what." He paused for a moment, his face hardening. "I really despise Dementors, did you know, Tonks? Foulest things on the planet, true dark creatures. I wish the Ministry had never come to an agreement with them, even if I can see the logic of stopping them from roaming freely. I suppose its just that I've seen too many people affected by them."

"I can understand that," said Tonks, her face hardening in turn. "Sirius ... well, even as a dog he never got that much respite, did he? And Harry ... well, I remember what you told me. They're his worst nightmare, aren't they?"

"Yes. And it isn't as if the poor kid doesn't have plenty to choose from. A lot of what's happened to him has been no joke. And then ..." He looked up. "You know, saying that, it's just struck me what it was that seemed to have left him. He'd lost most of his sense of humour. He'd always be joking and grinning and winking at you, it was part of who he was."

"Is that why it didn't work when he got out?" asked Tonks. She gave him a tentative smile. "I know you're quite a joker yourself when you want to be. I bet you wouldn't want to know some of the things I heard from Sirius about you."

He winced. "I bet I wouldn't either." He stared out of the kitchen window for a moment. "Actually, no, that wasn't it. I've no problem with people being depressed, in what are, let's face it, bloody depressing situations. But I don't think he was able to cope with it, or with me. The old fire simply wasn't there any more, however hard we tried to rekindle it. Oh, it never stopped us being good friends ... supporting each other when we were down ... but, well, just not as lovers. We couldn't make it work, however much time we spent together."

"I see. It must have been painful for you too, to see him like that."

He nodded, without even realising that he'd never usually admit to that. "Of course. And he was innocent of the charges they pinned on him, of course, that's what made it so particularly galling. Death Eaters fitting him up ... it happens too often."

Tonks hesitated, picking her words carefully. "What's it like for you now he's not around any more? I mean, I miss seeing him about the place too, and I didn't really even know him that well ... I suppose it can be hard to move on?"

"No. Honestly, no. It is tough, but ... well, to be brutally frank I'm used to losing people. I'm sorry if that sounds heartless, Tonks, but it's just something I've had to learn over the years to stay sane."

"You don't sound heartless, Remus," she said, catching his eyes again. "Just really, really hurt."

"Yes. Perhaps." He smiled, although she saw that it didn't reach his eyes. "Too old for my age. Well, sometimes I just feel too old full stop."

"Not in my opinion."

She saw him tense up and pull slightly back. "What's the matter, Remus?" she said lightly. "Never had a girl pay you a compliment before?"

"Of course I have," he said, slightly stung. "It's just ... well, a surprise coming from you, actually. It feels uncomfortable when it's obviously not serious."

Tonks raised her eyebrows slightly, and decided that she couldn't reasonably hope for a better cue than that. It was time to test her cousin's theory.

"Oh, I was being perfectly serious, Remus," she said softly; then she leaned forward, took his face in her hands, and kissed him, with far more apparent confidence than she really felt.

***

For a stunned moment or two, Remus couldn't quite believe what was happening; then he found himself responding to the kiss with fervour, almost with urgency, reaching across the table to pull her closer. It took several seconds of delightful intensity before a realisation of the sheer absurdity of what they were doing hit him and he pulled away.

"Tonks!" he half-shouted, with what he knew must be a fairly stupid look on his face. "What are you doing?"

She grinned at him, a lot more confident now that her experiment had worked. "Come on Remus, you must know what a kiss is by now."

"But ..." he spluttered. "Tonks, this is insane, you can't possibly want me ..."

"Why not? Because you're too old, perhaps? Don't be daft."

"No -- well, I am, but quite apart from that ..."

"Too poor, maybe? Well, it's a wrench to give up my dreams of being a kept woman, obviously, but I think I can manage pretty well on an Auror's salary."

"Being poor doesn't help, no, but ..."

"Wait, don't tell me, let me guess. Because you want to tell me you turn into a dangerous creature at the full moon and I might get hurt?" She looked at him with wonderment. "Remus, I already know you do. And I know you do everything possible to avoid hurting people. But even if the worst came to the worst" -- she held up a hand to forestall him -- "I'm trained to deal with the situation. Look ..." Tonks hesitated again; the recent turn of events had been unexpected, but damn if it hadn't felt right. "Look, no joke ... if you're prepared to take a chance and risk being with me, I'm certainly prepared to take a chance and risk being with you. We've always really liked each other, haven't we? And I think what just happened shows pretty damn clearly that we'd both like to try it."

He stared at her with a kind of hopeful disbelief. He swallowed. "All right, yes. Yes, you're right. I would. But I don't think those are problems to just Vanish away, either. Because really, I am too old, and too poor, and too dangerous, but apart from that, because, well, ..."

"I'm Sirius' cousin? What, that feels creepy to you, or something? Because don't let it, it's not like we were ever close before or anything. As I always tell people, he was in Azkaban half my life and before that our families never met!"

"Well, I can cope with that, but ..."

"Now what? Er -- you're too flagrantly homosexual?" she said jokingly. "Because ..."

"No, because you are!" he exploded.

He had to admit, she took it with real aplomb.

"Am I, Remus? Wouldn't you say you have evidence to suggest otherwise?" She waggled her eyebrows at him teasingly.

He bit back his first instinctive, impatient remark.

"Look," he said carefully, anxious not to say the wrong thing and spoil an unexpectedly promising development. "I didn't know whether it would be tactful to bring it up, but ... well, the gossip in the Order is that you and Hestia Jones ... weren't you two ... you know ..."

"Shagging like mad?"

"Yes!" He couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed or impressed by her disconcerting frankness on the point.

"Yes, we were," she said seriously. "But that's over now, Remus. I don't cheat on people."

"But then ... why me, why ... a man, if you were having an affair with her?"

"Why not? Can't I like girls too?"

He shrugged helplessly. "I suppose so ... it's just a surprise, that's all."

"Good." She leaned towards him. "Now then, Remus, before we do anything else, let's get this out of the way once and for all. Have you any other reasons why you think we shouldn't do this? Any of your past affairs that might be a problem? Anyone you're not over yet?"

He gave her a smile that he tried his best not to make wolfish. "I can't think of anyone," he said, drawing her close for a kiss that he had no intention of breaking off after a few seconds. As he slid his hands along her side, she reached up towards his head; hey, maybe she really was a hair person ...

***

"Moony?"

Remus and Tonks jumped apart, startled, at the sudden interruption. Sirius was standing in the doorway; his evident surprise rapidly giving way to sheer glee.

"Um, Padfoot, I was, just, um ..."

"Taking advantage of my poor naïve little cousin, Moony? I'm shocked at you." This statement would have been considerably more convincing if he hadn't been grinning from ear to ear. "Glad to see you're getting over Sturgis, anyway, although I didn't expect to see either of you branching out like this ..."

"Why not?" said Remus defensively, his arm finding its way around Tonks' waist. "Can't I like girls too?"

"That's my line," said Tonks, grinning.

"Where is Sturgis, anyway?" asked Sirius, giving her a look -- or rather a Look. "I haven't seen him around much since he got out. I thought he could bring me up to date on how things are in dear old Azkaban." Bitterness crept into his voice.

"Dumbledore sent him to France," said Remus apologetically. "He speaks the language, you know, so he's liaising with Madam Maxime." He didn't think it tactful to mention that Dumbledore had done so because he thought the change of scene might help restore Sturgis Podmore to effectiveness as a member of the Order after his hard time in Azkaban, but he was sure his old friend would deduce this immediately.

Sure enough, Sirius scowled. "I wish I could get out of this blasted place. I hate it when my friends and family have to go out and fight the war for me."

Tonks detached herself from Remus, walked over to Sirius, who was showing every sign of being a man who wanted to stalk out of the kitchen moodily, grabbed his robes and shook him. "We don't. We go out and fight it for you. So you won't have to stay in here and suffer, cos."

He gave her a twisted smile. "Thank you, little cousin. Just so as you know; I'll put up with what Dumbledore asks, as long as Harry's not in danger. If he is, I'm going to help come what may. Agreed?"

Tonks and Remus exchanged first glances, then nods. "Agreed."

"I would never ask you not to, Padfoot," added Remus quietly.

His twisted smile widened. "Thanks, Moony. Glad to see the future of the Black line is in" -- it became a grin -- "good hands. At least, from what I could see when I came in." He left the kitchen, chuckling loudly.

Tonks turned round. "Where were we ..." She caught sight of Remus' expression, and her face fell. "Oh look Remus, don't take my idiot cousin seriously! I'm not already planning what we name our first multicoloured werewolf cub!"

Remus once again found himself grinning despite himself. "That's good to know. Look, what ... just what do you actually want from this, Tonks?"

She shrugged. "At the moment? Just you, Remus. I like you a lot. Really, a lot a lot. I'm not saying I'm in love with you or anything, but I'd really like to explore the possibilities and see where it takes us. Deal?"

Remus stared at her. He could see a lot of possibilities, ranging from the very good to the very bad, and couldn't help but feel that he was too old, too poor and ... well, all the rest of it, but right now the idea was looking really, really good. He wasn't sure what he was getting into, but ... He took a deep breath.

"Deal."

She reached up to kiss him again, then with a grin simply concentrated for a moment and gave herself an extra few inches of height to bring herself level with his lips. He grinned back.

"Well, I always did rather like leggy girls," he said, in as deadpan a manner as he could manage with her this close to him. "I might just have to fall in love with you now. Should I tell you that?"

"No problem, Remus," said Tonks. "If I ever do fall in love with you, I'll probably tell you at least a million times ..."

---

Notes: Well, "can't Remus be bi?" always did seem like a proxy for "can't we have Wolfstar anyway?" So I thought I'd try one that's, yes, you can have him bi if you really want, but it doesn't mean he had to be shagging Sirius ... And I couldn't resist trying to surprise people by having Tonks be the first one to use the story title!

Cor, my first attempt at a basically shippy fic, first attempt at something a bit slashy, first attempt at something vaguely femmeslashy ... and for all I know it could even be the first fic to feature Remus/Sturgis and Tonks/Hestia, or at least both together. :)

Comments

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Well, it took me a second reading to realize that you were not, in fact, writing Remus / Sturgis AND Remus / Sirius :) Clever setup, and the "Because you're too flagrantly homosexual?" "No, because YOU are!" exchange made me laugh out loud.

[parasitevenus.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, awesome, awesome, awesome! I definitely laughed out loud too. Very nice.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

That is utterly brilliant. I was giggling like mad.

And I'm a firm supporter of the Remus is Bi theory. ;)

[jesspallas.livejournal.com]

I do love the way you take these fan theories and turn completely them on their head! Very clever work. ;)

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

"Wait, don't tell me, let me guess. Because you want to tell me you turn into a dangerous creature at the full moon and I might get hurt?" She looked at him with wonderment. "Remus, I already know you do. And I know you do everything possible to avoid hurting people. But even if the worst came to the worst" -- she held up a hand to forestall him -- "I'm trained to deal with the situation. Look ..." Tonks hesitated again; the recent turn of events had been unexpected, but damn if it hadn't felt right. "Look, no joke ... if you're prepared to take a chance and risk being with me, I'm certainly prepared to take a chance and risk being with you. We've always really liked each other, haven't we? And I think what just happened shows pretty damn clearly that we'd both like to try it."

Absolutely. Now why couldn't JKR have written that in HBP?

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks. Sturgis was a bit of a gift for this one when I thought about it, as he was in the original Order (and photo), and must have got out of Azkaban before the end of the year. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Thank you, it was quite fun to write too!

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks. I did get that vibe from BAMSR, nice to have confirmation. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Cheers! It's always fun to do that, because you can use people's assumptions to bluff them (well, not if you do it too often, I suppose).

[snorkackcatcher]

Well, that would have given the game away, wouldn't it. :)

[maple-clef.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! Very subversive and clever, and I liked the last line :)

[jesspallas.livejournal.com]

You should start publishing them as a series or something; "Ponderings on Fandom Theories: The Price of Expectations..." ;)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

::snerk:: Sorry I'm wandering in here uninvited or unexpected or whatever, but I was really bored at work, and didn't feel like waiting until it was posted at FA.

I got a kick out of this. (I also wish this is more how Tonks/Remus had been written, since it gives Tonks her dignity.) I admit I wasn't too shocked when Tonks said the "can't I like girls too?" line, but I think for some reason I was half-expecting it. It sounds like such a Tonks way of saying it, whereas Remus seems more the type to arch an eyebrow and give the clinical definition of bisexual in a dry voice. I did really like the Remus/Sturgis twist as opposed to Remus/Sirius- I also had to read it twice, naturally assuming that it was Remus/Sirius. But the twist worked very well, and it really amused me.

The idea that Remus assumes Tonks is homosexual also makes me laugh. I might be a R/S shipper, but it's because of the interactions between Remus and Sirius in OotP- I've never held to the idea Remus MUST be gay. (Reasons why it IS easy enough to shift Remus to bi.) But Tonks does fit more of the stereotypes than Remus does (although actually, she fits more stereotypes of a college student to me, but there ya go), and so I did get a kick out of him telling her SHE'S too gay, instead of the other way around.

Can I give one little bit of concrit? It's something someone told me a while back, and it really, really helped. I noticed you switching PoVs a little bit, especially in the beginning. It tends to be more effective if a writer sticks to one point of view through a scene, or if they change, change a minimum number of times. It's a small thing, but it goes a long way. (It's also a rule that can be broken effectively, so feel free to ignore me. You mentioned you were up for critical comments though.)

Anyway, entertaining stuff!

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

::grin:: Good to see the vibe is working. I'm trying to be subtle, but sometimes my subtlety simply doesn't show up on people's radars...or screams in neon colours. Not sure which is better, really.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Now why couldn't JKR have written that in HBP?

Well, it is a little hard to picture a scenario where this conversation would take place within Harry's hearing, unless JKR resorted to having him accidentally eavesdrop, like he did with Hagrid and Olympe :)

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

I know, I know, but she's the author. She could have made it convincing. After all, Harry's the hero. It's his job to overhear conversations he isn't supposed to. What else are heroes for?

You'll gather from this that I am a R/S shipper who has absolutely no problem with Remus/Tonks. Although secretly I mourn Moody/Tonks and Charlie/Tonks, as well as R/S.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

But it does Tonks so much more justice! I love your Tonks. I think you should be subcontracted to write all her dialogue in book seven. So there!

[snorkackcatcher]

*counts on fingers and works out 1% - hell, 0.1% - of the book 7 royalties* Mmm, I like that idea. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

I don't think I've ever seen a Moody/Tonks (there was a quite decent Snapefic that had Snape/Tonks over at Chamber of Secrets, but the author decided to give it up in the light of Snape in HBP). Bizarrely, I don't think I've ever seen a Kingsley/Tonks, either, which would seem to be an obvious pairing. (Then again, Harry/Parvati, which I have an odd soft spot for, is rarer than hen's teeth, whereas you can't move without tripping over Harry/Draco or Harry/Pansy or Harry/Lucius ... Tis a strange fandom sometimes.)

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks - I was struggling to find a decent way to end it, and that seemed to work. :)

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Worth every penny!

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Kingsley/Tonks would seem obvious. Harry/Parvati would seem almost intuitive. He did take her to the ball, didn't he (although he treated her terribly) and the actress playing her in PoA was one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Moody/Tonks was just an impression I got from OotP. An unintended impression, and I was aware of that at the time - but if you re-read it with Moody/Tonks in mind, it's astonishing. She cannot let a single comment of his past without backchat, and in the final battle, it's Moody who crawls over to Tonks and tries to bring her round.

As I said, an unintended impression on the part of the author - but there seems to be something there. Whether it's paternal feelings on his part, or they like each other enormously (as colleagues) or they can't stand each other, whatever. But it's intriguing!

[snorkackcatcher]

Thank you! Feel free to drop by anytime. :D

Glad you liked it, especially since it was gently teasing Wolfstar fans. :) Making Tonks bi here didn't originally come out of anything more profound than a wish to work in a one-liner, but the idea helped put a bit of extra spin on the narrative anyway. I've always thought she more fitted the student style too - well, at any rate, I've met plenty of girls like her at uni and elsewhere, almost all straight.

You're right about the shifting POVs - to be honest, that was something done as a bit of an experiment to see how well it would work, and because I wanted both POVs in there, and I did have a nagging feeling it was switching too rapidly. I might twiddle with it a bit before submitting it to FA (probably a "when I get around to it" sort of thing!).

[snorkackcatcher]

I got a sort of paternal vibe too - especially in the DoM fight, which also makes you wonder when R/T is supposed to have started, given that Remus doesn't immediately go to her. I suppose you can say - like Fernwithy in Shifts - that he has other things he has to do (fight Lucius, keep hold of Harry) once he gets confimation she's alive.

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

Not sure if I can say anything new, but will certainly join in the chorus of cheers. So so clever, and very funny (I really liked Tonks giving herself a couple more inches of leg length, for some reason!), and the hint of darkness at the end with the Sirius foreshadowing played off that very nicely.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it, especially since it was gently teasing Wolfstar fans. :)

Heh. As long as I'm dealing with someone intelligent, I like to think of myself as a Wolfstar fan with a sense of humor ;) Besides, a.) I agree with you that the thread you cited was really a cover question for "why can't you have both R/S and R/T?" and b.) I see absolutely no conflict between R/S and R/T. In fact, I'm working on a fic that involves both of them for the hp_synergy challenge. But the difference in what you meant by R/S here was entertaining, because it was a twist that really, really worked.

I've always thought she more fitted the student style too - well, at any rate, I've met plenty of girls like her at uni and elsewhere, almost all straight.

I really, really keep coming back to JKR's comment in her interview about being attracted to something and then finding yourself in over your head. She's talking about Death Eaters and then segues to Lupin/Tonks (probably as a diversion tactic, I'm guessing), but the more I think about it, the more I'm finding that comment as applicable to Tonks more than anyone. The student comment here... I can see a parallel between an idealistic college student out to Save the World (kind of like Hermione on S.P.E.W., but with pink hair), and suddenly finding that she can't do it alone, and in fact her hands are tied in more ways than one. I'm really reading a lot in here, but I wonder if maybe part of what we're seeing with Tonks in HBP (aside from the green Auror aspect) is that she's discovering that change isn't as easy as she hoped, and her ideals of being an Auror and the reality don't mesh up- and there's actually people she dislikes and doesn't respect in the Aurors. (Which is really funny, because I'm using that same exact scenario with Sirius in my ongoing WIP, when the order comes down from Crouch that Aurors can use Unforgivable Curses, and some of the people Sirius truly respects choose to do so.) Like I said, I think this is me reading more into it than JKR necessarily intended, but it's also not unrealistic.

And it's way off topic. Ahem. (Procrastination is fun.)

As far as the PoV thing, the place I noticed it the most was definitely the first section. The other sections worked fine for me on that front!

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Bizarrely, I don't think I've ever seen a Kingsley/Tonks, either, which would seem to be an obvious pairing. (Then again, Harry/Parvati, which I have an odd soft spot for, is rarer than hen's teeth, whereas you can't move without tripping over Harry/Draco or Harry/Pansy or Harry/Lucius ... Tis a strange fandom sometimes.)

And one that seems to Have Issues with interracial pairings, even though none of the canon characters do.

Personally, I've got to say that I rather like the idea of Kingsley / Tonks, much more than Charlie / Tonks (which has one very obvious practical problem, seeing as how both parties seem to be solidly committed to careers that can only be pursued in separate countries. And, well, after HBP we have a fairly good idea of what type of guy Tonks tends to go for, and Kingsley seems to fit the profile more than Charlie does.)

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks - the height change was something that struck me when I got to the end, because for a HP story nobody had actually done any magic in it yet. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Procrastination is fine. I do it all the time, unless I put it off to do something else. :)

That's quite a possible reading of Tonks in HBP actually, even though it seems to be a majorly depressing time for most people (given the descriptions we got of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade). I do wonder what JKR plans to do with her in book 7; I could equally well go for the theory that she turns out to be one of those characters who fade very much into the background after their plot arc concludes (like Penelope Clearwater, say), ot that she'll suddenly play a bigger role (like Ginny and Neville in OotP). Given that the Metamorph thing hasn't really been used much yet, I'll tentatively go for the latter.

I managed to find the interview bit you mentioned - it is admirtedly an odd switch in topic. I think it may have stemmed from the long pause a few questions earlier when she was asked what she'd wanted to be asked, because she did seem keen to talk about both RAB and R/T and it may have been in her mind. (She also said she'd been astonished to see one person mention R/T in the TLC(?) comments - which is surprising because it always was a fairly common ship. From that and what else she said, I don't think she spends that much time on the sites, so a lot of the fan theories, even 'major' ones, will be off her radar.)

BTW, out of curiosity, where did you see the story? I just posted it here late last night and hadn't mentioned it anywhere else.

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

But he doesn't fight Lucius. We have no information about what Remus is doing during that battle: he's the only good guy for whom this is true. His actions when facing Lucius are entirely defensive. It's fascinating. All we can do is interpolate. (Not being a conspiracy theorist I think JKR just forgot to describe what he was doing, but still....!)

I've never felt that R/T started in OotP. It's quite likely that Tonks liked Remus during this book, but I always supposed that she made her move (and was rebuffed) early in HBP. No evidence either way: just works for me. What do you think?

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Yes, we don't even see a lot of Fred/Angelina out there, do we, alhough both characaters are sufficiently well defined in the books that they would not be too hard to write?

And, well, after HBP we have a fairly good idea of what type of guy Tonks tends to go for, and Kingsley seems to fit the profile more than Charlie does.)

I agree with your first point - about geography - but I'm less sure what you mean here. Charlie works with dangerous creatures, after all; he's very good at a hazardous profession. What does Kingsley have (for Tonks) that I've forgotten about that Charlie doesn't? One could argue intelligence, perhaps - she obviously likes her men intelligent - but do we have enough information on either C or K?

[snorkackcatcher]

Quick answer (since I'm supposed to be up early for work in the morning - I am so not an early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise sort of person :) ): I think that's probably the way JKR meant us to call it, although the timing seems off (since he's out of touch a lot of the time in HBP, and she's supposed to have told him a million times etc etc). It may be one of those cases where things are supposed to happen in the gap between books but there doesn't seem enough time, like Ron shooting up in height (he ought to be about seven foot two by now!).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing you're right that she's likely to be important in book 7, which is why I've been trying to reserve judgment on her. I do think the Metamorph thing will have to come into play somehow- and usually it's a two book minimum that we've heard of a power. (We heard about Animagi in Book 1, and it became Important in book 3. We heard about Polyjuice Potion in Book 2, and it became Important in book 4. We heard about Sirius in book 1 and he became Important in book 3, and the locket was discovered in book 5 and will become Important in Book 7. So there's definitely a bit of a trend there. Whether or not Tonks is the important Metamorph is debatable, but given that it's the last book of the series I'd guess she is, just because you don't really want to introduce any new characters. But I'm glad you enjoyed that take on it- I actually went and expanded it in my own LJ (without the bits about Sirius, because I haven't gotten that far yet in the fic) because I was rather taken with it myself :)

My real theory on the interview and why she made that switch was that she had a mental list of ways to change the subject. She's talking about Draco and the Death Eaters right before, which is definitely book 7 territory. It's even MORE book 7 territory when you consider Regulus (because who are we kidding? It's Regulus) and his decision. Ergo: must change subject quickly. Bring up something else! So that's why I think that transition is so awkward and there precisely- but I also really like the idea that the relationship is not going to be as easy as Tonks thinks it is. (I don't write happy-cutesy Remus/Sirius, either. I don't think being in a relationship with Remus is easy, no matter who you are. The boy has more baggage than O'Hare.) And I agree that it was really, really surprising that she was astonished someone guessed R/T. Aside from it being a common ship, if she was going to put Remus with an active character that wasn't a student, wasn't twice his age, wasn't married, and wasn't a man... well, who else WAS there? It didn't seem like as huge a stretch of logic to me as some of the other things fans have guessed! Ah well. As long as she's joking about the werewolf cubs. (Not that I object to the idea of Tonks and Remus having kids, but I just don't find the idea of babies with lycanthropy cute at all!)

BTW, out of curiosity, where did you see the story? I just posted it here late last night and hadn't mentioned it anywhere else.

Confession. When I get bored, I tend to surf LJs, and there's a few I watch I haven't friended as of yet. Yours is one of them, because you make intelligent and interesting posts on FAP and I saw you had a LJ through (probably) ignipes's LJ. (And aside from me being very heavily R/S and you being very heavily R/T, I tend to agree with a lot of what you say.) So I happened to be bored at work today, because I don't understand what I'm doing AT ALL (you wouldn't happen to know anything about molecular modeling, would you?), and went through my list to procrastinate. So yeah, I'm sort of a benevolant stalker or something. ::blush::

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

What does Kingsley have (for Tonks) that I've forgotten about that Charlie doesn't?

Well, I'm going on general impressions, of course, since we don't have much more than a general impression of either Charlie or Kingsley's personality, but since Tonks has evidently fallen for one older man with a quiet-but-commanding presence, I think it's more likely that she would be attracted to somebody else who fits that general description, rather than to an extraverted athlete of her own age. He may well be very intelligent, but he seems to be a different personality type than Remus, and most people run true to type.

Oddly enough, the one Weasley sibling that I can picture Tonks dating is Percy, although of course he'd have to grow up and develop a sense of humor first, and I'm not laying long odds on that happening after the Christmas dinner scene... I think she'd be good for him, though.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Whether or not Tonks is the important Metamorph is debatable, but given that it's the last book of the series I'd guess she is, just because you don't really want to introduce any new characters.

Mmm. Not sure that I agree about the "no new characters" thing -- we've had them in every book so far, after all, and if Harry's going to go Horcrux-hunting it would seem odd if he didn't meet lots of new people along the way. But in any case, my pet theory is that there's another Metamorphmagus that we've already met -- i.e. Bellatrix or Narcissa.

[snorkackcatcher]

Addendum on the Lucius point: I had a look and I suppose that when Remus steps between them, it positions him nicely in front of the dais to catch Harry later. I assume he would have to be fighting Lucius, even if he is just being defensive - but come to think of it, as an ex-DADA teacher he should be pretty good at duelling. Then again, there's erm, Lockhart. :)

The story is err...

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

rather dialogue heavy, so the mood feels crowded somehow, and as such, the emotion doesn't really come through. Probably if you'd cut back on the rambling speech and allowed some space for the characters to absorb and react, the piece would have been stronger.

Sorry if it's harsh concrit, and not much praise, because you did attempt a difficult subject with the right intentions.

It's nice to see

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

Tonks a bit stronger here, really,for what the comment is worth.

Re: The story is err...

[snorkackcatcher]

Thsnks - no problem. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking of it as approaching a difficult subject or anything - more just writing a story that had a particular twist in the tail, and working out the details to fit. That's probably why it's dialogue-heavy, because I do tend to write a lot of dialogue rather than description (something I've noticed elsewhere and occasionally tried to compesnate for).

[snorkackcatcher]

Confession. When I get bored, I tend to surf LJs, and there's a few I watch I haven't friended as of yet. Yours is one of them, because you make intelligent and interesting posts on FAP and I saw you had a LJ through (probably) ignipes's LJ. (And aside from me being very heavily R/S and you being very heavily R/T, I tend to agree with a lot of what you say.) So I happened to be bored at work today, because I don't understand what I'm doing AT ALL (you wouldn't happen to know anything about molecular modeling, would you?), and went through my list to procrastinate. So yeah, I'm sort of a benevolant stalker or something. ::blush::

Thank you - no problem, I do the same sometimes, or do a search to see what other posts somebody has made!

I didn't realise I came across as heavily R/T - I'll have to watch that, because I didn't think I was, really. (Before HBP, I liked it because I thought the personalities matched, and because of some excellent fics of which it was a part, but was confidently predicting that it was pure fanon and had probably never crossed JKR's mind.) I do however tend to defend Tonks, basically because of NTLJ - I've done a lot of trying to see things through her eyes, and of course it's all publicity as they say. :)

(BTW - Molecular modelling? Hmm, it's a long time since I was an aspiring chemist. I doubt I'd know what I was doing nowadays!)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I didn't realise I came across as heavily R/T - I'll have to watch that, because I didn't think I was, really.

Heh. Bear in mind that you're talking to someone who really dislikes R/T. I mean, really dislikes it. Not that I find anything offensive about it- I just never thought the characters went well together. But that definitely means "take my opinion on that with a grain of salt!" I've assumed your big fic was a fic that included R/T for some reason (am I right about that?), and because my dislike of the pairing is completely subjective and not one I would expect everyone to share, I've never really worried about degrees of shipping there. And I know completely what you mean about defending a character because you've been seeing through their eyes- Sirius is my pet for that. (And a certain OC, who I love far more than I should, considering what a jerk most people think he is!)

And yeah. Molecular modeling :P Thing is, I AM a chemist. Or fuel scientist. I'm just not at all a theoretical one. I burn things. I'm far more comfortable burning them than modeling them! Ah well. You never know! (I asked as a joke on my own journal, and one person DID happen to know something about modelling. Sadly, with proteins. I don't burn proteins.)

[snorkackcatcher]

I've assumed your big fic was a fic that included R/T for some reason (am I right about that?)

No, actually. :) I suppose it's a pity that R/T is so common that any long Tonks fic is assumed to include it. Briefly (plug warning) it's a "Tonks' First Case" set during the early part of Goblet of Fire, and as far as Tonks is concerned Lupin is just this teacher who was in the papers for being kicked out of Hogwarts as a werewolf, and who told a rather fishy story about what happened when her cousin escaped.

I was planning to include a scene later on where she goes to see him to ask about this and about Sirius, which may possibly get cut as it is rather corny. If I use it, it may be modified slightly in the light of HBP, but I see no reason to change my otiginal plan of having them being very suspicious of each other - at this point neither of them has any reason to suppose that they will later be colleagues, let alone lovers.

I wanted to avoid canon-character shipping in NTLJ (with the exception of the obvious Ted/Andromeda, if that counts) because it was started well before HBP. I gave Tonks an OC boyfriend later on in the story as a sort of lightning rod, to avoid (a) any suggestion I'd made her somehow sexless (b) any suggestion that I should be pairing her off with [favoured canon character X]. Having decided that, I worked this OC into the plot once or twice, and he has the advantage of providing a not particularly serious relationship that could be assumed to have split up by the start of OotP.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Okay, this might sound a little harsh on the R/T ship, but oooh. If NTLJ is gen (or close enough to it- I have NO issues with OCs given that I gave Remus an OC boyfriend for a while and have a few OCs I'm very fond of), I think I shall have to read it. I love a good plotty story, and I really liked the OotP Tonks a LOT. (I never write her, but that's because I'm stuck back in 1980 right now.) So thanks for the plug, because I have seen it plugged in other places! So very cool :)

[gunderpants.livejournal.com]

Thankyou sir. As someone who likes them both, but only ships R/T, I give you a million pepsi max thankyous.

And I'm going to bloody well friend you.

[snorkackcatcher]

Thank you. (And allow me to repay the compliment - I have dropped by sometimes already, anyway!)

[serenely-crazed.livejournal.com]

This is an awesome fic. The concept of Remus being bi is a happy solution for everybody - cannon Tonks/RLers and avid, slightly fanatical Sirius Black/Remus Lupin fans. My favorite part of the story was the dialogue between the two leading up to "No, because you are!" And somehow, with amusement, and despite strange pairings (Sturgis!? and Hestia!), this fic didn't seem rediculously out there. It was actually quite serious in parts. Anyway, I loved this.

Particularly the line: " although I didn't expect to see either of you branching out like this ..."

[snorkackcatcher]

Thank you! -- it was meant to be fairly light, but I just sort of let the characters say what they would, and they got a bit serious from time to time, dammit. :)

Just curious: where did you see it mentioned, given that it's a few months old now?