My Konstantine

Chapter Three

That was the first of many that were to come in the days—weeks—months ahead. Percy really never was sure exactly how long they were together; all he knew was that the time he had her all to himself was far too short.

He hated clichés, but at that point, he figured his whole life was a cliché.

After they fucked in what he would come to find out was Ron’s bed, the two dressed quickly and quietly; it was almost a the the transgression hadn’t happened, but when he was buttoning the top buttons to his robes, she stepped forward and with her nimble fingers took over. She smelled—he inhaled—like cherries.

He loved maraschino cherries.

Percy looked down under the rims of his glasses, trying to watch what she was doing. His eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness, although the only thing he could really see was her face. He caught the smile she gave him—a mixture of impishness, satisfaction, and even, to his mute astonishment, a dash of timidity—and rewarded her with one of his own.

“So,” he said, clearing his throat. The sound of his own voice seemed far too loud. “Do—do you do this often?”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Do what often?”

He cleared his throat once more. “Have—have casual…you know…”

Her confusion melted into a tiny smirk as she did up the last button.

“You mean do I go around casually shagging blokes, like I just did you?”

He swallowed at the wording she had chosen and nodded.

She smiled almost—almost sympathetically, Percy was loathe to say, and stood up on her tip toes to kiss him gently.

“That wasn’t casual.”

Her lips were soft and moist, and it took all he had to resist the sudden surge of wanting that had returned to his lithe body as she nibbled on his bottom lip. He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed happily, his warm breath tickling her left cheek. She kissed him one last time before stepping away, and still holding his hand she slowly led him out of the room and into the brightly-lit hallway.

“Come on, babes…if we’re gone for much longer, your mum’s going to send a search party.”

Percy grinned to himself as he followed her willingly down the corridor and the stairs. When they landed in the foyer, she unexpectedly whirled around to face him, causing him to nearly plow into her.

“So,” she started with a wicked smile. “My shirt isn’t on backwards, is it?”

A suddenck ock of ice filled his stomach and he swallowed hard. He did a quick inspection of the both of them and, only moderately relieved, shook his head.

“No, fortunately. Not even Mum’s that thick.”

Tonks laughed throatily. “I did that once, you know, right in front of the bloke’s family, too—oh, don’t you give me that look, he only copped a feel, nothing more.”

Embarrassed, Percy retracted the frown he had sent her way and shook his head.

“You’re bloody amazing, Tonks.”

She turned around to walk back into the kitchen, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. “I know.”

When they stepped back into the room, every pair of eyes turned their way before looking quickly back down to their plates or their conversation partners. Tonks shot Percy one more quick smile before resuming her place on the bench—rather ungracefully, he noted, as he ran the tip of his tongue against his bottom lip. He watched as she managed to nearly fall into Kingsley Shacklebolt’s lap, all the while giving him a view of the smooth skin that covered her lower back. He wHe was sure she had done it on purpose.

Percy’s return to his seat was a little less clumsy, and once he was settled, he tried his best to look as if nothing had happened, making sure not to make eye contact with any member of his family. If by chance his mother met his gaze, he was sure she would immediately know what had happened, and he wasn’t sure whether or not he could stand the embarrassment.

To his surprise, however, Remus Lupin looked up from his plate the moment Percy sat down, and Percy thought he heard a distinct sniff come from the werewolf. Frowning, he leaned over slightly and placed his lips next to Tonks’ ear, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

“Remus,” he whispered in as low a tone as he could muster. “His sense of smell…can he…?”

With that, Tonks burst out giggling, managing to both catch the attention of everyone at the table and answer Percy’s question all at once. When Percy looked up, he caught Remus’ gaze and, even thought he felt a trickle of horror run through his mind, he held his stare, the werewolf’s amber eyes telling him all he needed to know.

Remus was the first one to find out. He was the only one who didn’t make a fuss.

Dinneter ter that went by relatively smoothly. Tonks behaved herself, Percy noted with a mixture of disappointment and relief, and no one except for Remus seemed to catch on to their game. It wasn’t until they were all lounging around the massive sitting room that was once Sirius’—and now was Tonks’, Percy thought idly—that she decided that it was once again time for her to make him as wondrously uncomfortable as possible.

He rather liked it, if he were going to be completely honest with himself, but he knew he would never admit it—except maybe to her.

He was positioned stiffly—in all senses of the word—against the armrest of a massive black sofa, his back straight and his shoulders locked in place as he stared straight ahead into the fire. All sets of eyes seemed to wander in his general direction every few moments, and he was keenly aware of the fact that everyone was waiting for him to slip up and say something very Percy-like.

In reality, he tryitrying his hardest to forget the past year of his life and, in essence, himself. He needed no reminders of why he had nearly severed himself from his family, and the precariously balanced dance in which he had taken part for twelve months had finally fallen flat. He was no longer Percy Weasley, Junior Assistant to the Minister; he held another position at the Ministry now, and he wondered indolently if his father was aware of this.

Probably not. His father had been so busy with the Order lately—they all were, he thought—that he was rarely in the office any more.

Tonks had chosen to sit next to him and, instead of planting her bum on a cushion, her feet on the ground, and her spine against the back of the couch, as normal people would—him, for instance—she had chosen to stretch out languidly across the entirety of the sofa, using his lap as a pillow.

The fact that her mouth was only inches away from what was looking to be a very promising erection didn’t help his concentration much. It was a wonder that his family—especially the twins—hadn’t noticed.

They were probably too busy trying to think of things to talk about.

With Tonks’ long blonde hair spilling out across his lap and her head lying against his upper thigh, all he could really do was stare straight ahead into the raging fire and listen to the tidbits of conversation that floated around them. Hogwarts popped up quite a bit, he noticed, the light of the fire burning spots into his vision.

“So,” Tonks murmured, startling him out of his daydream. Her voice was low and barely audible even to him, and with the nearest person more than five feet away, he was willing to bet no one else could hear her. “Do you plan on staying the night or did you have other things to do?”

He swallowed. Damn that woman for doing this to him! “I—I wasn’t planning on it…” he admitted.

Tonks frowned slightly. “All right then.”

She sounded almost…disappointed.

He frowned. “But, I mean, if you don’t—if you don’t mind or if it’s all right—I guess I could—”

She reached up and planted a single long finger on his lips, effectively silencing him as her lips spread out into a small smile. “Good.”

He felt his cheeks burn as Ron and Harry snickered quietly to themselves, but he stubbornly refused to give in to the urge to snap at them as it rose within him. Instead, he gave her a small smile and shifted ever-so-slightly, so part of his hard-on was pressing up against her temple.

She arched an eyebrow and smirked wickedly. “You never planned on going home tonight, did you?”

He remained silent.

She narrower eer eyes slightly, as if squinting to inspect some miniscule blemish on his face.

“Or, if you did, you certainly hoped I’d invite you to stay.”

He sincerely hoped she wasn’t omniscient.

Nevertheless, he allowed himself a tiny smile. “Well, it most certainly worked, didn’t it?”

She bit her bottom lip in an irresistibly adorable manner that made his lower regions throb deliciously. “That it most certainly did.”

It continued on like that for the rest of the evening and well into the night. Eventually the children—they being Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione—eventually trickled up the stairs and into their beds, followed shortly by the adults who had taken up residence at Number 12 Grimmauld Place for the summer. Eventually the only ones who were left were Fred, George, Percy, and Tonks—who appeared to have fallen asleep in Percy’s lap.

“So, Perce,” Fred—or at least Percy thought it was Fred—said after Kingsley Shacklebolt had left for the night. “What did you and Tonks do for that full—”

“—fifteen minutes?” George finished up for his twin with a mischievous grin on his freckled face.

Percy scowled and fumbled for the right thing to say. “We—err—”

“We shagged like bunnies in the middle of Ron’s bed,” came Tonk’s voice, startling Percy to the point where he jumped and nearly managed to force her head off of his lap.

The twins’ eyes widened simultaneously to what Percy estimated was nearly the size of dinner plates. “Really?”

Tonks snorted. “No, of course not—what do you think I am, a bloody tart?”

Percy, whose insides had managed to venture up into the back of his throat in the form of vomit, swallowed hard and resisted the urge to laugh nervously.

“Anyway,” she continued once Fred and George’s mouths had closed, “I’m going to show Percy to his room, considering he’s staying here for the night. Don’t—” She emphasized the word as she began to rise. “—mess anything up too badly.”

She stood and, with a muttered bid of goodnight, he followed, his shoulders slouched as he shuffled his feet through the room, trailing after her. His eyes were glued to her swaying hips and he frowned in concentration as he mindlessly followed her up the steps.

“Where—what room are we—am I staying in?” he asked quietly as they passed numerous amounts of closed doors.

“We are staying at your place,” she said in an almost inaudible voice before quickly glancing back toward him. “If that’s quite all right with you, of course.”

He choked.

“My place?” he whispered frantically. “What do you mean—why—I mean, it’s just—”

“Your girlfriend’s gone,” Tonks pointed out, “you don’t have a roommate—oh, please, don’t look at me like that, I checked the Ministry records on your living arrangements months ago—and if we stay here, there’s a decent chance we’ll get caught. Unless you want to see your mother’s shocked expression first thing in the morning while lying completely naked anposeposed on top of the sheets next to a completely naked and exposed me, I’d recommend we stay somewhere other than this disaster of a place.”

His throat constricted at Tonks’ mention of her lying naked on….

Yes, well, he was sure that mental image would stay with him for many years.

He did see her point though.

“All right,” he replied, his voice tight. “Do you know the address?”

“Yes,” she replied, just as she opened the door to what looked to be a very large master suite. “Come on—this was my great aunt and uncle’s room. They soundproofed it because—” She shot him a look and grinned. “Well, I’m sure you can figure that out.”

With that, the lock of the door clicked quietly and Tonks Apparated with a crack, leaving Percy with a raging erection and no choice but to follow.