Disclaimer- I don't own HP. Not even a little bit.

the lonely and the loved

Remus Lupin was woken up at exactly three seventeen in the morning by shouting coming from downstairs. Outside, he managed to deduce through his sleepy haze. He clenched his wand in his hand, suddenly wide awake, fear making him shake away the grogginess. He was panicked until he recognised the voice. That loud, sweet voice.

"Remus!" she was shouting. Tonks, that is. He lurched to the window, nearly tripping over the blankets that had tangled around his feet. He rested his hands on the windowsill, and looked down. He could barely see her, but he recognised her hair, which was coloured the signature bubble-gum pink that he'd grown to love. It was just like her to do things like this, come to his house at three in the morning, looking slightly tipsy, yet still bright eyed and wonderful. "Come down here, you daft git!"

"Tonks," he called down wearily. "It's three in the morning. Could this not have waited until breakfast, at least?" Afternoon, even. He was starting to sleep in longer when he wasn't on any missions.

"No, Remus, it couldn't have. Come down here and talk to me properly! It'd be horribly rude if we woke up your neighbours." Tonks gave him a grin, unconsciously changing her eye colour to match his, which he never ceased to find endearing.

Remus looked to his warm bed longingly, as he still had a lot of sleep to catch up on, but was then swayed by Tonks resolutely saying, "I'm not leaving until you come down and chat." He cringed. The residents next door wouldn't be happy with him if he let her shout for too long. The old woman in the apartment next to his kept a gun loaded with rock salt in her living room, and he wasn't eager to be blinded by her. She was one tough lady.

He heaved out a long-suffering sigh, but secretly he was quite pleased by her determination to talk to him. "I'll be down in around five minutes, Tonks. Please, try not to disturb any of my neighbours." She let out a peal of amused laughter that was that little bit too loud, and he shook his head wryly. He pulled on a pair of jeans and took a whiff of a wrinkled grey t-shirt that he had picked up off the floor. It smelled alright, so he put it on. He would usually be wearing robes, but living in a muggle area made it a little bit impossible. He already looked odd enough without the robes, with them… He could already imagine the whispers. He slipped his feet into scuffed shoes, grabbed a worn cloak, and locked up his apartment, making sure that his protective wards were still up and working.

He distantly heard Tonks yell out, "Hurry up, Lupin," and he gave a world-weary sigh, but a hint of excitement was visible in his expression.

He rushed down the stairs, jumping the last two like he used to do when he was a child, and then smoothed himself down, opening the door casually and stepping out into the cool night air.

"'Bout time," she said from her seat on the brick wall that squared off the apartment block. "It is cold out here, you know."

"You could've just come up to mine," he said, and red started to crawl up his neck as he thought of what his words insinuated.

"Nah, Remus, wouldn't want to impose." She gave his cloak a pointed look, and, taking her hint, he wrapped it around her shivering shoulders. "Thanks," she said gratefully.

"Where's yours?" he asked with a disapproving frown. "You'll catch a cold if you keep on wandering around without a cloak."

She shrugged. "I always forget it at home, or at Headquarters. It's getting bloody frustrating, but I just can't seem to remember where I put it when I'm leaving. So I go without it. Cigarette?" She offered him one out of her pack. Clove. He hated clove. Sirius and James would smoke those same cigarettes back in school. He had always asked them to discontinue the bad habit, but they always brushed him off with an 'Aww, don't be such a bloody prefect, Moony, live a little.' James only stopped when he found out that Lily was pregnant with Harry. He wouldn't risk his little baby's life, even if it meant going through the long process of quitting. He said that it was worth it to see Harry born safe and sound.

"Nah, I'm right, thanks," he declined politely, barely hiding his grimace. Too many memories were associated with those clove cigarettes. Tonks gave him a knowing look, and lit one up, inhaling deeply, as if it was her lifeline. When she exhaled, smoke laced the air, curling into different shapes and patterns. It was almost beautiful.

"Your loss."

"Why'd you come here?" he asked abruptly.

"'Cause I felt like it. Why? Not happy to see me?" she said teasingly. "I'm not sure whether or not to be offended." She tapped ash off of the cigarette onto the bricks next to her. The tip glowed orange in the dark.

Remus' fingers picked at his t-shirt, whose hem was already worn and threadbare from his constant worrying. His robes were in the same state. "No, it's not that. It's just that it's really early."

"The only ones awake at three a.m. are the lonely and the loved," she murmured. "And I was lonely. Hence the visit." She picked at the purple nail-polish covering her fingers, chipping it until it was cracked and jagged.

"Misery loves company," he said, stilling her fingers with his.

They were silent for a few minutes, Tonks taking one last drag of her cigarette, Remus trying not to breathe in the clove flavoured smoke.
He plucked a yellow flower from the bush behind them, and tucked it into her hair. It clashed, almost nicely, with the pink.
She gave him a smile, and dropped the butt onto the concrete below, squishing it out with the toe of her shoe.
They weren't supposed to pick the flowers from the bushes, but he thought that it was worth getting in trouble for if it gave her a smile. He glanced at her blue, blue eyes – his eyes - that were narrowed in contemplation.

The quiet was interrupted by her.

"Marry me," she said abruptly. He looked sideways at her, analysing her with blue, blue eyes. Her face looked pale and washed out in the white glow of the street lamps. He was sure that he looked the same.

"Why?" he asked. "We're alright now, aren't we? Just the way we are?"

"I want more," she whispered. "I don't want to be unsure of your feelings or scared that you're going to- to leave me, or… something. I- I don't want to be that girl."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him until she was nestled comfortably against his side.

"Dora, sweetheart, I won't ever leave you." She looked doubtful, so he kissed her on the cheek. "I love you far too much."

She pulled away, and stared at him with a frown on her face. He could almost see her reprimanding him for the nickname, but instead she said finally, "Kiss me properly," before capturing his lips with hers.
She tasted sweet, like lollies and mint. There was still the cloying tang of clove on her tongue, and the flavour of bitter alcohol, but that just made his head spin.
They fought for dominance, fingers weaving into hair and trying to inhale the delicious scent of each other. She was his drug, and he was addicted to her taste. He longed to get closer to her, pulling her flush up against him, or as far as they could get while sitting on a thin brick wall. The only interruptions to their kiss were stops for air and muttered endearments. The world could've been falling down around them, and they wouldn't have cared.

"Does this mean you'll marry me?" Tonks asked as he kissed down her neck, her breathing quick and stilted. He looked up, meeting her half-expectant, half-anxious eyes. His head was spinning from the kiss, and her mussed up hair with that yellow flower dangling down, only barely holding on, and flushed face were making it more difficult to not snog the living Merlin out of her.

"Of course I'll marry you, you barmy girl," Remus said with a laugh, kissing her quickly on her swollen lips. "Now, why don't we take this inside?"

His response was met with a cheeky smile from Tonks.

The only ones awake at three a.m. are the lonely and the loved, after all.

Written for the Canon Pairings Competition, Round One! I chose the pairing Remus/Tonks, obviously, with the prompts: So pay attention now, I'm standing on your porch screaming out/And I won't leave until you come downstairs, Blue eyed boy, Flowers in your hair, Don't ask for cigarettes.

Hope you liked!

Love,

Silvs