Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Warnings: NA

Stacked with: MC4A; Shipping War; Shower of Words

Individual Challenge(s): Hufflepuff MC; Gryffindor MC; True Colours; Seeds; Ways to the Heart; Creature People; Themes and Things B (Surprise); No Punny Business; In a Flash; Two Cakes!; Click Bait It; No Punny Business

Representation(s): Random house party

Bonus challenge(s): Tomorrow's Shade; ; Demo (Odd Feathers; Eternal Boredom; Bad Beans)

Tertiary bonus challenge: NA

Word Count: 805

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Spring List Medium 2 (Creature AU)

When They Come Pre-Bitten

The crowd pulsed around Remus and he wanted to push it back every time. Ever since he'd inherited the house and they'd moved in, Sirius had been dedicated to throwing larger and larger parties that inevitably destroyed more and more of his parents' property. Remus could respect it; but with the full moon only two days away he would have appreciated a quiet night in—perhaps with a book and a cup of tea. Yes, a good, strong Earl Grey would beat the stench of beer that was irritating his overly sensitive nose. That was true regardless of the moon's sway.

He made his way to the kitchen, which was his usual hideout at social events. The particular advantage of this kitchen was that it provided a direct escape hatch to the patio, which was ideal for Remus who would eventually need to duck out to relieve his senses of the thumping music and the smells of too many people in too small a space on an impossibly hot summer.

The kitchen was relatively empty; another group of solstice-seeking partygoers sat on the kitchen table and picked at the food that had been left there as offerings to the house. Otherwise, only a girl with long, magenta hair tumbling down to her waist and porcelain pale skin sat on the counter. She was wearing jeans that had seen better days and a black lace shirt that showed off more impossibly pale and impossibly smooth skin. She was perched right next to the kitchen sink, and he knew that he would have to pass her to go get a glass of water. He pondered this and, deciding that he'd been unsocial enough, made his way to the sink and filled up a mug from the cupboard.

That was when he realised that she smelled like almonds and sugar and cinnamon, an absolutely delicious combination. The more he looked the more details he noticed: her nails were painted a black that shimmered with colours like an oil spill, and her jewellery looked Victorian and loaded with stories. He came to the realisation that this girl was much too cool for him to even be in her general vicinity—not to mention that he absolutely had to stop himself from getting invested.

"You're Sirius' roommate," she said.

"Yes," he said. "I'm sorry, I have no idea who you—or anybody here—is."

She laughed. "That's okay. My name's Tonks. I'm some kind of a cousin to him."

"Oh," Remus said. "Right. Yeah, he has a lot of that."

She laughed. "Now there's an understatement."

He nodded and turned to go.

"Where are you going?" Tonks asked.

He turned back to her, unsure how to answer.

"I'm… I'm not the type for parties," Remus said. "I mean, Sirius always asks and makes sure I'm fine, but this isn't my scene and I… I shouldn't really be talking to you."

"What?" Tonks laughed. "Do you bite?"

Remus wasn't sure how to answer.

"I do my best not to," Remus said. The scar on his shoulder, his source scar he'd come to call it, tingled as if it knew it was being spoken about.

"Well I do," Tonks replied. She smiled to him, purposefully wide, and that was when he saw the unnaturally long teeth in the back of her mouth. Her eyes flashed scarlet for a second, but then she was back to herself. "I just felt like I should tell you for transparency's sake."

Remus smiled. "Is that why you've been staying away from the snack table?"

She nodded. "Garlic, everywhere."

He laughed.

"There's a 24/7 diner down the street," Remus said. "It's very bad food; I don't think they have garlic or any other herbs and spices there."

"Is that a formal invitation to go get food with you?" Tonks asked.

"What, do you need one to cross the restaurant threshold?"

"Look at you, so funny and a were," Tonks said. "I am howling with laughter."

Remus froze.

"How did you know?" Remus asked.

"I've been around a while," Tonks said. "I know the tells. Besides, people who work so hard to stay on the edges and in the shadows usually have a fairly good reason."

Remus pondered this new information. She was soaring further and further out of his league by the second. But she was still there…

"The moon's a good reason," Remus said. "Curses too."

"Curses, shmurses," she shrugged. "I don't know if you knew this about vampires, but we literally subsist off of blood. I, however, make another exception for French fries."

She smiled. Hey, if someone had already bitten her, what was the harm in getting close?

"They have curly fries," he nodded.

"Let's go," Tonks said, hopping off the counter. "You can formally invite me along the way to get around that whole doorway debacle."